THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


RURAL 
IMPROVEMENT 


Other  Books  by  the  Same  Author 


Landscape  Gardening 

Plums  and  Plum  Culture 

Fruit  Harvesting,  Storing,  Marketing 

Systematic  Pomology 

Dwarf  Fruit  Trees 

The  American  Apple  Orchard 

The  Landscape  Beautiful 

Beginner's  Guide  to  Fruit  Growing 

The  American  Peach  Orchard 


RURAL 
IMPROVEMENT 


The  Principles  of  Civic  Art  Applied  to  Rural 
Conditions,  including   Village  Improve- 
ment   and    the   Betterment   of 
the  Open  Country 


By 
FRANK  A.  WAUGH 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
ORANGE   JUDD   COMPANY 

LONDON 

KEGAN  PAUL,  TRENCH,  TRUBNER  &  CO..  Limited 
1914 


Copyright,  1914,  by 

ORANGE  JUDD  COMPANY 

All  Rights  Reserved 


ENTERED  AT  STATIONERS'  HALL 
LONDON,   ENGLAND 


Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


Inscribed   to 

J.  Horace  McFarland 

President  of  the 
American  Civic  Association 

Ardent  and  Effective  Advocate  of  a  Country 
Clean,  Beautiful  and  Convenient 


PREFACE 

BIG  issues  are  stirring  in  the  rural  dis- 
tricts of  America.  The  farming  com- 
munities, and  the  small  towns  dependent  on 
them,  have  reached  a  stage  of  genuine  and 
confident  prosperity.  It  is  no  longer  a 
question  with  them  whether  they  can  live 
through  the  winter  and  pay  the  interest  on 
the  mortgage.  The  main  problem  is  not 
now  how  to  make  more  money,  but  how 
to  live  more  comfortably.  The  way  the 
farmers  spend  money  for  automobiles 
proves  this. 

Better  homes  and  better  home  surround- 
ings are  the  matters  of  prime  concern. 
Better  schools,  better  playgrounds,  better 
churches,  better  libraries,  better  roads,  are 
wanted — better  cemeteries,  even.  In  the 
main,  these  are  community  problems,  to  be 
solved  by  the  co-operative  action  of  the 
whole  neighborhood.  Co-operation  has 
been  talked  of  as  the  coming  remedy  for  all 
the  farmer's  difficulties;  but  the  word  has 

ix 


PREFACE 

been  given  too  narrow  a  meaning  and  ap- 
plication. The  neighborhood  can  accom- 
plish more  by  co-operating  to  own  a  grange 
hall,  or  the  boys  can  do  better  co-operating 
to  maintain  a  baseball  league,  than  the 
farmers  can  co-operating  to  buy  fertilizer 
twenty-five  cents  under  market  price.  And 
the  best  place  to  learn  how  to  co-operate  is 
in  the  care  of  public  property,  such  as  parks, 
commons,  playgrounds,  schools  and  roads 
which  we  own  in  common. 

The  country  needs  to  be  improved.  Some 
of  us  who  live  in  the  country  and  love  it 
hate  to  admit  this.  But  the  steady  stream 
of  young  folks — and  some  older  ones — mov- 
ing toward  the  city  shows  that  most  people 
still  find  the  city  more  attractive  than  the 
country.  Look  what  has  been  done  for  the 
city!  Fine  schools,  theaters,  picture  shows, 
playgrounds,  parks,  music,  boulevards- 
play,  beauty  and  entertainment.  The  sim- 
ple fact  is  that  the  country  must  do  some- 
thing to  offset  these  attractions  or  the  exodus 
of  live  young  men  and  women  will  go  on 
forever. 


PREFACE 

Better  farming — bigger  crops  and  better 
prices — will  do  something.  Better  houses 
and  household  equipment  will  do  more. 
Better  neighborhood  equipment  for  recrea- 
tion and  wholesome  social  intercourse  will 
do  still  more.  There  must  be  improvement 
all  along  the  line.  This  is  the  Rural  Im- 
provement which  I  would  preach. 

At  the  same  time  I  would  point  out  that 
any  improvement  of  this  sort  can  best  begin 
on  its  physical  side.  The  concrete  prob- 
lems of  physical  property  are  easier  to 
grasp ;  and  if  it  is  true,  as  it  partly  is,  that  a 
man  must  have  a  sound  body  in  order  to 
support  a  vigorous  mind  and  a  healthy  con- 
science, it  is  more  truly  true  that  a  com- 
munity must  be  clean  and  orderly  physically 
in  order  to  be  clean  and  orderly  socially  and 
morally.  One  of  the  strongest  elements  in 
general  agricultural  improvement  is  to  be 
found  in  the  contribution  offered  by  civic 
art — the  art  which  builds  a  sound  physical 
frame  for  the  support  of  a  healthy  com- 
munity life.  To  this  great  cause  I  offer  my 
small  contribution, 

FRANK  A.  WAUGH. 

AMHERST,  MASS.,  July,  1914. 

xi 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  PAGE 

1.  DEFINITIONS  AND  PRINCIPLES 2 

2.  MEANS  OF  ACCESS 19 

3.  ROADS  AND  STREETS 32 

4.  ROADSIDE  TREES   58 

5.  Civic  CENTERS 83 

6.  PUBLIC   GROUNDS 103 

7.  THE  VILLAGE  HOME  GARDEN 120 

8.  FARM  PLANNING 137 

9.  COMMUNITY  PLANNING 160 

10.  RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 181 

n.  INCIDENTAL  PROBLEMS 205 

12.  IMPROVEMENT  PROGRAMS 224 

13.  ORGANIZATION  AND  MANAGEMENT 245 


Country  and  city  are  united  in  an  indis- 
soluble partnership,  which  is  equitable  and 
for  their  mutual  profit. 

WILBERT  L.  ANDERSON, 
"The  Country  Town." 


The  provision  of  this  \_civic~\  ideal  .  . 
will  have  other  value  than  merely 
that  of  popular  education.  It  will  offer 
inspiration.  Nor  will  this  inspiration  be 
material  only,  but  as  clearly  moral  and 
political  and  intellectual.  The  pride  that 
enables  a  man  to  proclaim  himself  "a  citizen 
of  no  mean  city"  awakens  in  his  heart  high 
desires  that  had  before  been  dormant. 

CHARLES  MULFORD  ROBINSON, 

"Modern  Civic  Art." 


To  the  multitude  are  carried  some  of  the 
fruits  of  prosperity,  leisure  and  culture; 
from  them  are  gained  democracy,  fraternity, 
freedom  of  social  expression;  with  them  is 
developed  a  new  dynamic  force  capable  of 
remaking  the  American  community  by  in- 
spiring the  American  citizen  with  the  new 
civic  spirit. 

CHARLES  ZUEBLIN, 
"A  Decade  of  Civic  Development." 


ART  in  general  has  no  very  high  repu- 
tation in  America.  It  is  thought  to 
be  not  sufficiently  "practical."  Yet  at  pres- 
ent this  mistaken  view  is  giving  way  to  a 
better  understanding.  In  the  first  place 
people  are  beginning  to  see  that  anvthing 
is  none  the  less  useful  for  being  beautiful.  A 
beautiful  bridge  will  carry  just  as  big  a  load 
as  an  ugly  one.  A  beautiful  and  dignified 
house  is  just  as  comfortable  as  a  wretched 
plain  one.  A  well-proportioned  silo  will 
keep  the  silage  just  as  sweet  as  an  uglv  un- 
painted  one  with  the  top  off.  Beauty  does 
not  interfere  with  utility,  nor  utility  with 
beauty.  The  two  are  sisters.  They  should 
walk  hand  in  hand.  Nothing  can  be  truly 
beautiful  unless  it  is  perfectly  suited  to  its 
proper  use;  and,  conversely,  nothing  can 
perfectly  serve  its  highest  uses  unless  it  is 
beautiful. 


DEFINITIONS  AND  PRINCIPLES 

Thus  we  are  awakening  in  this  country 
(to  put  the  whole  meaning  into  one  phrase) 
to  the  necessity  of  having  things  done  right. 
A  barn  is  not  strictly  right  until  it  serves 
its  native  purposes  to  the  fullest  possible 
measure — and  when  this  full  and  high  and 
overflowing  stage  of  utility  is  reached,  the 
barn  must  be  also  beautiful. 

Now  in  public  affairs  (which  we  may  call 
also  civic  affairs  or  community  affairs)  we 
reach  this  conclusion  a  trifle  later.  We 
sooner  see  that  our  own  houses  and  silos 
must  be  right  than  we  realize  that  the  pub- 
lic schoolhouses,  roads  and  cemeteries  come 
under  the  same  high  necessity.  But  this 
second  stage  has  been  fully  reached  in  many 
American  communities,  and  the  need  is 
keenly  felt  of  realizing  in  all  public  works 
the  highest  utility  combined  with  the  utmost 
beauty.  And  this  conclusion  may  almost  be 
adopted  as  the  definition  of  art — to  realize 
the  maximum  of  utility  combined  with  the 
maximum  of  beauty.  When  thus  rightly 
understood,  art  becomes  an  indispensable 
factor  in  daily  life — whether  private  or  pub- 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

lie  life— and  not  a  mere  superfluity  fit  for 
the  attention  only  of  dudes,  decadents  and 
highbrows. 

Civic  art,  therefore,  may  be  defined  as  the 
practice  of  doings  things  right  with  refer- 
ence to  all  public  works — or  to  state  it  more 
explicitly,  it  is  the  constant  endeavor  to 
secure  in  all  public  works  the  maximum  of 
utility  combined  with  the  maximum  of 
beauty. 

Civic  art  thus  becomes  a  branch  of  land- 
scape architecture,  which  endeavors  to 
secure  for  all  the  outdoor  needs  of  humanity 
the  greatest  convenience  plus  the  utmost 
order  and  beauty.  The  principles  of  civic 
art,  then,  are  the  same  as  those  of  landscape 
architecture,  and  this  great  art  must  be 
chiefly  appealed  to  to  supply  both  the  prin- 
ciples and  the  detailed  practices  for  appli- 
cation in  the  newer  branch  of  civic  art. 

It  would  lead  us  too  far  afield  from  our 
present  studies  should  we  attempt  here  to 
elucidate  all  the  basic  principles  of  land- 
scape architecture  and  to  apply  them  to  the 
subject  in  hand.  We  may  only  say  that  here 


A    COLORADO   MINING    VILLAGE    SURROUNDED    BY    BEAUTIFUL 
NATURAL  SCENERY 


DEFINITIONS  AND   PRINCIPLES 

the  great  principles  of  order,  which  are  the 
principles  of  design,  rule  supreme.  To  have 
everything  done  in  perfect  order — to  have 
everything  kept  in  perfect  order — this  is  the 
keynote  of  civic  art. 

Civic  art  strives  to  secure  this  perfect 
good  order — this  maximum  of  utility  plus  a 
maximum  of  beauty — in  the  things  which 
belong  to  the  community.  These  public 
possessions  are  streets,  commons,  parks, 
playgrounds,  school  buildings,  churches, 
libraries,  town  halls,  court  houses,  and  scen- 
ery, with  various  other  important  items. 
Unfortunately  the  sense,  and  even  the 
knowledge,  of  common  public  ownership  in 
such  things  is  still  very  weak  in  America. 
For  too  many  years  we  have  laid  every 
stress  on  the  private  ownership  of  our  own 
individual  property.  All  laws  have  been 
made  to  protect  individuals  in  this  personal 
right.  All  preaching  has  aimed  to  quicken 
conscience  with  reference  to  the  rights  of 
others.  And  so  we  have  almost  forgotten 
that  most  of  the  greatest  gifts  in  the  world 
belong  to  nobody — that  is,  to  everybody— 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

that  is,  to  us  all.  The  air  and  the  blue  sky 
still  belong  to  us  anyway.  The  sweet  water 
that  falls  from  heaven  belongs  to  us,  too,  ex- 
cept that  many  of  us  have  chosen  to  live  in 
cities  and  to  pay  someone  to  bring  us  our 


A    RURAL    VILLAGE    IN    GERMANY 


share  of  it.  Then  the  schools  are  not  mine 
nor  yours,  but  ours;  and  the  roads  belong  to 
no  man,  though  the  automobile  hog  may  act 
as  though  they  did;  and  the  churches  are 
the  property  of  all,  though  Protestant  secta- 

6 


DEFINITIONS  AND  PRINCIPLES 

rianism  has  indirectly  inculcated  the  belief 
that  one  or  two  men  own  each  church;  and 
the  cemeteries  are  public  property  where 
we  are  all  at  last  "free  and  equal"  in  spite 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 

And  so  all  of  us,  acting  together,  strive  to 
secure  the  best  results  attainable  in  the  de- 
velopment of  our  common  property,  to 
secure  the  very  highest  utility,  to  enjoy  the 
greatest  possible  beauty,  and  to  maintain 
everything  in  the  best  possible  order.  This 
is  civic  art. 

Tn  the  cities,  civic  art  has  been  developed 
first.  There  are  sufficient  reasons  for  that 
fact.  But  the  country,  equally  with  the  city, 
has  public  property,  and  should  have  more, 
and  this  property  needs  to  be  developed  to 
its  highest  utility  and  to  be  equipped  with 
every  available  beauty.  Unfortunately 
again  the  sense  of  common  ownership  is 
weaker  in  the  country  than  in  the  city,  and 
harder  to  arouse.  Practical  co-operation  is 
harder  to  secure.  Greater  efforts  are  neces- 
sary, therefore,  to  get  community  improve- 
ments und-er  way  in  the  country. 

7 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

Another  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that 
communities  have  not  such  definite  geo- 
graphic limits  in  the  rural  districts  as  in  the 
cities.  An  incorporated  city  has  very  pre- 
cise boundaries.  Any  individual  family 
resides  in  one  city  and  not  in  two.  (Fam- 
ilies with  residences  in  New  York,  New- 
port, Palm  Beach  and  Reno  do  not  count 
for  anything  in  any  connection.)  In  the 
country,  however,  every  farm  is  the  center 
of  a  neighborhood.  These  neighborhoods 
overlap  and  overlap  again,  never  coming  to 
an  end  except  at  the  ocean  or  the  impassable 
mountain.  Practically  this  is  the  very  diffi- 
cult situation  throughout  the  Central  and 
Western  states.  In  the  New  England  states 
the  town  unit  is  so  well  developed  politi- 
cally that  it  makes  a  very  convenient  basis 
for  all  kinds  of  community  action.  A 
political  club,  a  farmers'  club,  or  a  civic  im- 
provement society  may  easily  be  organized 
for  any  given  town.  Everyone  in  the  town 
will  accept  his  natural  allegiance  with  such 
a  society  and  work  with  it  to  the  best  of  his 
ability. 

8 


DEFINITIONS  AND   PRINCIPLES 

In  the  Central  and  Western  states  the 
county  is  the  political  unit.  But  the  county 
is  too  big  for  the  most  effective  work  in 
civic  betterment.  Certain  enterprises,  to  be 
sure,  can  be  undertaken  on  a  county-wide 
scale,  and  should  then  be  under  the  direc- 
tion of  county  societies.  In  those  states 
where  county  patriotism  has  substantial 
growth  every  effort  should  be  made  to  put 
it  to  good  use.  County  improvement  socie- 
ties may  be  formed,  on  whose  programs 
would  appear  such  projects  as  (a)  better 
county  roads,  (b)  better  county  buildings, 
(c)  county  high  schools  and  agricultural 
schools,  (d)  scenic  and  historic  reservations. 

But  smaller  units  of  organization  must  be 
found,  even  in  most  enterprising  counties. 
Village  improvement  societies  can  take  care 
of  the  small  towns,  and  civic  clubs  or  boards 
of  trade  or  women's  clubs  of  the  larger  ones. 
The  country  districts  must  not  be  forgotten, 
but  should  be  divided  up  amongst  the 
granges  and  amongst  the  local  farmers' 
clubs  (most  of  which  are  still  to  be  organ- 
ized). 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

We  have  spoken  of  the  county  unit,  the 
town  unit,  the  village  unit,  and  the  very  in- 
definite country-neighborhood  unit.  Before 
dropping  this  subject  we  must  have  a  look 
at  the  state  unit.  As  a  matter  of  fact  there 
are  many  civic  enterprises  of  state-wide 
scope,  such  as  state  roads,  state  parks,  etc. 
Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that  some  of 
the  finest  civic  accomplishments  of  the  last 
decade  have  been  in  this  field,  and  we  may 
reasonably  hope  for  more  in  the  next  de- 
cade. We  have  a  sort  of  reason  for  this  in 
the  significant  fact  that  the  civic  feeling  is 
stronger  within  state  boundaries  than  any- 
where else  in  America.  A  Kansan  is  more 
proud  of  Kansas  than  of  all  the  other  stars 
on  the  flag;  and  a  Mississippian  will  do 
more  for  his  state  than  for  any  other  geo- 
graphical unit,  big  or  little,  in  the  universe; 
and  a  New  Yorker  always  thinks  that  North 
America  revolves  round  the  Empire  State. 
Inasmuch  as  patriotism  and  civic  pride  are 
pretty  much  one  and  the  same  thing,  and  as 
this  civic  pride  is  the  ultimate  foundation 
of  all  civic  improvement,  we  may  properly 

10 


DEFINITIONS   AND   PRINCIPLES 

expect  best  results  where  local  patriotism  is 
strongest,  and  may  thus  hope  to  accomplish 
some  of  the  biggest  and  best  things  through 
state-wide  movements. 

The  time  is  now  fully  ripe  for  the  organ- 
ization of  state  campaigns  in  all  states  where 
a  fair  stage  of  social  and  economic  develop- 
ment (/.  e.f  a  reasonably  well  organized  civ- 
ilization) has  been  attained.  Such  enter- 
prises promise  to  be  most  effective  if  initi- 
ated and  directed  by  the  state  agricultural 
colleges.  A  strong,  aggressive,  modern  agri- 
cultural college  can  easily  put  into  the  field 
a  small  corps  of  experts  who  will  assist  the 
local  communities  in  all  the  undertakings  of 
civic  betterment.  These  various  undertak- 
ings are  enumerated  in  the  chapter  on  im- 
provement programs,  but  may  be  recapitu- 
lated here  for  convenience.  These  experts, 
carrying  this  civic  betterment  propaganda 
throughout  the  state,  would  deal  directly 
with  such  problems  as  these:  (a)  Good 
roads,  location,  construction  and  main- 
tenance, (b)  roadside  and  street  planting, 
and  care  of  roadside  trees,  (c)  acquisition, 

ii 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

planning  and  management  of  public  reser- 
vations, parks,  picnic  grounds,  commons, 
and  playgrounds,  (d)  location  and  design  of 
school  grounds,  especially  country  schools 
and  those  providing  school  gardens,  experi- 
mental grounds,  etc.,  (e)  location  and 
design  and  care  of  public  cemeteries,  (f) 
care  of  country  churches  and  church 
grounds,  (g)  location  and  design  of  all 
public  buildings,  more  especially  those  out- 
side of  cities,  (h)  design  and  care  of  farm 
yards  and  village  yards;  (i)  design,  service 
and  sanitation  of  farm  buildings.  In  every 
one  of  these  lines  improvement  is  possible 
and  desirable.  Improvement  in  greater  or 
less  degree  can  be  secured  by  putting  before 
the  people,  systematically  and  urgently,  the 
best  modern  ideas  on  these  several  subjects. 
No  better  line  of  work  for  rural  betterment 
can  possibly  be  undertaken  by  the  extension 
services  now  organized  in  many  agricul- 
tural colleges,  or  by  any  other  organizations 
having  in  view  the  improvement  of  country 
life  conditions. 

12 


DEFINITIONS  AND   PRINCIPLES 

All  these  civic  improvement  enterprises 
always  look  very  formidable  to  the  inex- 
perienced person.  Talk  about  town  plan- 
ning, country  planning  or  a  general  state 
plan  sounds  altogether  futile  in  such  ears. 
What  can  be  done  after  all  to  change  the 
plan  of  a  town  already  in  existence?  How- 
ever, the  works  of  civic  improvement  are, 
in  fact,  much  easier  to  accomplish  than  the 
public  ever  believes.  For  the  greatest  part 
civic  art  undertakes  only  to  do  in  the  right 
<way  Instead  of  in  the  wrong  <way  things 
'which  have  to  be  done  one  'way  or  the  other. 
Now,  most  people,  even  town  and  county 
officials,  would  rather  do  things  right  than 
to  do  them  wrong.  As  the  right  way  is  usu- 
ally the  cheapest  way,  especially  in  the  long 
run,  there  is  in  this  fact  another  strong  pref- 
erence for  the  best  things,  whenever  the 
public  can  be  helped  to  see  what  plans  are 
actually  cheapest  and  best  The  important 
point  is  to  see  that  the  public  has  a  fair 
chance  to  know  what  is  best.  In  an  enor- 
mous number  of  cases  public  questions  are 
decided  without  this  knowledge. 

13 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

In  an  experience  in  civic  work  covering 
several  years  I  have  often  been  surprised  at 
the  readiness,  even  avidity,  with  which 
apparently  radical  suggestions  are  some- 
times accepted.  I  once  asked  an  audience 
in  a  country  town  if  they  owned  any  public 
picnic  ground.  No,  they  said.  Had  they 
any  places  in  town  attractive  enough  for 
such  uses?  Oh  yes,  plenty  of  them!  And 
then,  after  the  lecture,  and  before  we  left 
the  room,  three  men  said  they  would  per- 
sonally give  the  land  to  the  town.  Dozens 
of  similar  instances  could  be  related  illus- 
trating the  ease  with  which  the  most  sub- 
stantial improvements  are  speedily  and 
easily  realized  when  the  right  idea  is  favor- 
ably presented. 

In  other  cases  more  time  is  needed.  In- 
deed the  time  element  is  of  supreme  impor- 
tance in  most  piojects  for  public  works.  It 
requires  time  for  any  new  idea  to  "soak 
in."  When  a  new  improvement  is  proposed 
it  should  be  put  fairly,  fully  and  clearly 
before  the  public,  and  kept  there.  Let  it  be 
a  plan  for  a  new  road  or  a  public  ball  field, 

T4 


DEFINITIONS  AND   PRINCIPLES 

if  a  well-studied  plan  can  be  widely  cir- 
culated and  properly  explained,  and  then 
if  the  drawings  and  data  can  be  put  up  in 
plain  view  in  the  post  office  or  other  public 
place,  and  kept  there,  perhaps  for  several 
years,  the  work  will  be  eventually  carried 
out.  It  will  almost  do  itself.  The  people 
become  accustomed  to  the  idea,  they  accept 
it  as  a  probable  result,  and  when  the  proper 
moment  arrives  they  will  assist  in  its  final 
realization.  Patience,  prudence  and  prep- 
aration are  the  watchwords  of  civic  im- 
provement. 

One  more  point  of  fundamental  impor- 
tance must  be  borne  in  mind.  Although 
civic  art  deals  only  with  the  physical  fea- 
tures of  the  community  equipment  (that  is, 
with  public  property  of  one  sort  or  another) , 
these  physical  elements  do  not  exist  by  them- 
selves and  certainly  not  for  themselves.  In- 
dustrial, social,  educational,  religious  and 
other  factors  are  present  and  powerful  in 
the  community  life,  and  it  is,  indeed,  for 
these  things  that  the  physical  equipment  is 
used.  Now  civic  art  in  any  form — village 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

improvement,  rural  improvement,  or  state 
improvement  campaign — cannot  go  very 
far  by  itself.  Improvement  of  the  streets 
depends  partly  on  improvement  of  local 
politics,  and  this  in  turn  on  better  schools, 
and  all  together  on  better  churches  and  a 
growing  spirit  of  honesty  and  public  serv- 
ice. Furthermore  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial conditions  must  be  improved  in  order 
that  farms  and  factories  may  yield  larger 
returns  for  the  support  of  churches,  schools, 
playgrounds,  roads  and  even  cemeteries. 
All  community  advancement  must  be 
gained  by  co-ordinated  advance  all  along 
the  line.  Improvement  of  roads  and  pub- 
lic grounds  must  be  accompanied  by  im- 
provement in  schools,  by  reform  in  politics 
and  by  genuine  religious  revivals.  In  like 
manner  a  wild  religious  upheaval  without 
better  streets  is  a  waste  of  breath,  or  political 
reform  without  better  schools  is  a  delusion, 
or  more  scientific  agriculture  without  more 
picnics  and  better  churches  and  happier 
households  is  only  vanity  and  vexation  of 
spirit. 

16 


DEFINITIONS  AND   PRINCIPLES 

The  great  advantages  of  civic  art  are  two : 
First,  it  deals  with  concrete  problems  and 
materials;  that  is,  with  property;  and 
humanity,  especially  American  humanity, 
has  a  most  ineradicable  belief  in  property. 
Civic  art,  therefore,  supplies  the  basis  on 
which  communities  most  quickly  rally,  and 
on  which  a  genuine  co-operation  can  be 
most  easily  and  effectively  established. 
Secondly,  civic  improvement  thereby  be- 
comes the  indispensable  training  school  for 
all  higher  forms  of  neighborly  co-operation, 
such  as  deal  with  political,  educational  and 
religious  reforms.  In  a  double  sense  civic 
art  is  the  unique  foundation  on  which  to 
build  every  kind  of  civic  improvement. 


Das  regelmasziac  Parzellieren  vom  rein 
okonomischen  Standpunkte  aus  ist  bei 
Neuanlagen  ein  Faktor  geivorden,  dessen 
Wirkungen  man  sich  kaum  entziehen  kann. 
Trotzdem  sollte  man  sich  dleser  landlaufi- 
gen  Method e  nicht  gar  so  blindlinys  auf 
Gnade  und  Ungnade  ubergeben,  denn  eben 
hiedurch  werden  Schonheiten  des  Stadt- 
baues  geradezu  hekatombenweise  abqesch- 
lachtet.  Es  slnd  dies  alle  jene  Schonheiten, 
welche  man  mit  dem  Worte  "malerisch" 
bezeichnet.  Wo  bleiben  bei  einer  regelrech- 
ten  Parzellierung  alle  die  malenschen  Stras- 
zenwinkel,  wie  sie  uns  im  alien  Nurnberg 
und  ivo  sie  sonst  noch  erhalten  blieben,  ent- 
zucken,  hauptsachlich  durch  ihre  Original- 
it'dt,  ivie  die  Straszenbilder  beim  Fembohaus 
zu  Nurnberg  oder  beim  Rathaus  zu  Heil- 
bronn  oder  der  Brauerei  zu  Gorlitz,  dem 
Petersenhaus  zu  Nurnberg  und  anderen, 
welche  aber  leider  durch  fortivdhrende 
Demolierungen  von  Jahr  zu  Jahr  weniger 
iverden. 

CAMILLO  SITTE, 
"Der  Staedtebau." 


18 


A   PLEASANT  COUNTRY   ROAD   IN  SLEIGHING   TIME. 


CHAPTER  II 
MEANS  OF  ACCESS 

IF  we  regard  the  village  as  a  unit,  thinking 
of  it  as  the  home  of  a  living  community, 
we  will  see  at  once  that  it  demands  suitable 
openings  for  entrance  and  exit.  There  must 
be  doors ;  there  must  be  some  way  to  get  into 
the  town.  I  know  a  number  of  excellent 
towns  which  are  highly  inaccessible;  it  is 
so  hard  to  get  into  them  that  people  seldom 
go  there.  There  are  no  railroads,  there  are 
no  trolleys,  there  are  no  good  wagon  roads, 
so  the  town  is  isolated.  It  is  put  aside  from 
the  currents  of  commercial  and  social  life. 
Business  and  society  become  stagnant  and 
the  town  suffers  throughout  its  whole  organ- 
ization. 

Many  feel  keenly  the  disadvantage  of 
being  cut  off  from  railroad  communication. 
Many  a  town  has  voted  itself  heavily  into 
debt  issuing  bonds  to  secure  the  entry  of  a 

19 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

railroad.  In  former  years  such  strenuous 
exertions  for  railway  connections  were  very 
common  in  the  prairie  states  and  have  not 
been  unknown  to  the  most  slow-going  towns 
in  New  England.  In  many  cases  the  rail- 
road has  proved  the  commercial  and  social 
salvation  of  a  town.  Almost  every  town 
which  has  a  railroad  feels  the  importance 
of  this  service,  and  would  not  for  the  world 
think  of  dispensing  with  it.  What  would  a 
trwn  do  if  the  railroad  were  taken  away? 
The  result  is  too  serious  to  contemplate. 

In  many  parts  of  the  country  the  old  his- 
tory of  the  railroad  is  being  repeated  in  the 
extension  of  the  trolley  systems.  Good 
trolley  connections  are  now  as  important  as 
railway  connections.  In  many  towns  they 
are  even  more  important.  The  trolley  has 
come  to  be,  in  a  large  number  of  cases,  the 
main  entrance  and  exit. 

All  the  while,  the  wagon  roads  have  been 
growing  in  importance  instead  of  decreas- 
ing in  value.  As  travel  by  railroad  and 
trolley  increases,  travel  by  wagon  and  buggy 
also  increases.  But  the  thing  which  has 

20 


MEANS  OF  ACCESS 

brought  the  highways  into  special  promi- 
nence, in  the  present  decade,  has  been  the 
unexpected  extension  in  the  use  of  automo- 
biles. The  public  roads  have  much  more 
use  than  they  had  25  years  ago,  and  much 
harder  use.  Instead  of  decreasing,  their 
importance  has  increased. 

All  such  roads  leading  into  town,  whether 
railroads,  trolleys  or  wagon  roads,  are  to  be 
considered  as  "village  portals."  They  are 
the  approaches  to  the  town.  By  them 
strangers  come  to  get  their  first  welcome, 
and  old  residents  return  with  buoyant  hearts 
to  their  homes.  They  are  to  be  considered, 
therefore,  and  treated  in  their  proper  rela- 
tion to  the  community  life. 

Considered  as  a  welcoming  portal  to  the 
village,  the  common  railroad  depot  is  often 
a  sad  disappointment.  It  is  usually  dirty 
and  the  grounds  both  inadequate  and  dis- 
orderly. The  place  is  surrounded  by  the 
most  unattractive  business  and  the  most  dis- 
heartening architecture  in  the  town.  If 
there  are  any  unsightly  coal  sheds,  any  evil- 
smelling  stockyards,  any  noisome  gas  plant, 

21 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


these  things  are  certain  to  welcome  the  trav- 
eler at  the  railway  station.  It  is  just  as 
though  a  private  family  should  receive  all 
its  visitors,  friends  or  strangers,  at  the  back 
door,  and  should  meet  them  there  with  a 


GOOD    ROAD    LOCATION,    SHOWING    BEAUTY    OF    GENTLE   CURVE 

fine  collection  of  garbage  cans  and  slop  jars. 
The  situation,  common  as  it  is,  is  utterly 
wrong,  preposterous  and  humiliating. 

It  can  be  improved.     In  fact,  it  can  be 
radically  changed.     It  is  entirely  possible 

22 


MEANS  OF   ACCESS 

for  the  railway  station  to  be  what  it  ought 
to  be,  a  pleasing  and  suitable  introduction 
to  the  town.  Fortunately,  we  do  not  lack 
for  concrete  examples.  The  famous  railroad 
stations  of  the  Boston  &  Albany  road  in  the 
Newtons  have  been  for  many  years  a  useful 
example  to  the  rest  of  America.  The  Bos- 
ton &  Maine  road  has  developed  a  few 
pleasant  station  grounds.  The  Chicago  & 
Northwestern  railroad  has  a  number  of  at- 
tractive stations  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Chicago;  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  has 
been  able  to  secure  a  number  of  good  ex- 
amples along  their  line.  Yet,  for  the  pres- 
ent, these  good  examples  are  in  a  very  small 
minority,  taking  it  the  country  through. 

Such  improvements  as  have  been  secured 
in  station  grounds  have  been  sometimes  on 
the  initiative  of  the  railroads  and  sometimes 
on  the  initiative  of  the  townspeople.  The 
railroads  themselves  really  ought  to  take 
this  matter  up.  Tt  is  their  business  and  they 
could  well  afford  to  do  it.  In  cases  where 
they  do  not  willingly  undertake  it,  the  com- 
munity should  bring  to  bear  every  pressure 

23 


PLAN    OF   A   GERMAN   VILLAGE,   SHOWING   MAIN    ENTRANCES 
24 


MEANS  OF  ACCESS 

which  it  has  at  command.  Doubtless,  the 
most  successful  method  will  be  that  of  co- 
operation with  the  railroad.  The  people 
of  the  town  can  do  something  and  the  rail- 
road will  usually  be  able  to  meet  them  half 
way. 

A  serious  defect  in  the  railway  service  in 
many  cities  and  towns  lies  in  the  bad  loca- 
tion of  the  railroad  station  or  stations.  It 
is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  find  a  country 
town  in  which  the  railroad  station  is  placed 
a  half  mile,  a  mile  or  even  more  from  the 
center  of  the  village.  The  locations  in  many 
instances  are  nothing  less  than  ridiculous. 
Evidently,  they  were  determined  upon  by 
the  railroad  with  very  small  consideration 
of  the  convenience  of  the  public.  The  day 
has  gone  by,  however,  when  the  railroad  can 
afford  to  disregard  the  needs  of  its  cus- 
tomers. Indeed,  very  few  railroad  man- 
agers nowadays  wish  to  do  it.  It  is  much  bet- 
ter business  to  accommodate  the  public  in 
every  reasonable  way.  On  this  account  we 
may  expect  substantial  improvements  to  be 
made,  under  pressure  from  the  community; 

25 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

stations  will  be  removed  to  more  central 
locations  and  in  other  ways  made  more 
accessible. 

Difficulties  are  greatly  multiplied  when 
three  or  four  railroads  have  depots  for  the 
same  town  at  widely  separated  points.  I 
know  a  town  of  2000  inhabitants  which  has 
four  railroad  stations,  yet  the  two  nearest 
together  are  a  half  mile  apart,  and  one 
would  be  required  to  make  a  trip  of  possibly 
four  miles  to  visit  the  four  stations.  Such 
an  arrangement  is  really  intolerable.  It 
ought  to  be  changed  at  once,  and  in  a  consid- 
erable number  of  cases  it  would  be  changed 
if  everyone  concerned  could  really  see  how 
expensive  and  inconvenient  it  is.  A  few 
moments'  figuring  will  show  that  the  people 
of  the  town  are  wasting  thousands  of  dollars 
annually  jaunting  about  all  the  points  of  the 
compass  to  reach  such  scattered  depots. 

The  trolley  entrance  more  commonly 
gives  an  attractive  introduction  to  the  vil- 
lage. The  trolley  is  apt  to  come  in  by  one 
of  the  best  and  pleasantest  streets.  The  vil- 
lage improvement  society  should  take  pains 

26 


27 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

to  see  that  this  street  is  kept  clean  so  as 
to  give  strangers  a  good  impression  as  they 
arrive. 

The  trolley  is  so  new,  however,  that  it  has 
not  quite  found  its  place  in  the  town.  It  has 
taken  away  a  large  part  of  the  business  of 
the  steam  railroad,  without  having  accepted 
quite  all  the  steam  roads'  responsibilities. 
This  is  especially  the  case  with  reference  to 
waiting  stations,  and  the  time  must  soon 
come  when  all  the  principal  trolley  lines 
will  provide  suitable  waiting  stations,  just 
as  every  railroad  feels  obliged  to  provide  a 
passenger  and  freight  depot.  The  village 
improvement  society  will  then  be  under  ob- 
ligations to  see  that  these  waiting  stations 
are  centrally  located  (without  their  being 
put  on  the  town  common  or  permitted  to 
obstruct  the  street),  that  they  are  built  in  at- 
tractive designs,  that  they  are  kept  clean  and 
orderly. 

The  main  roads  entering  a  town  will,  of 
course,  be  kept  in  good  repair  and  their 
borders  will  be  kept  clean  and  attractive 
for  the  same  reasons.  Visitors  coming  by 

28 


MEANS  OF  ACCESS 

x 

carriage  or  automobile  should  be  given  a 
favorable  impression.  The  building  and 
maintenance  of  such  roads  will  be  discussed 
in  another  place. 

When  any  given  town  or  village  is  stud- 
ied, it  will  be  seen  that  the  actual  entrances 
are  surprisingly  few  in  number.  There 
may  be  one  or  two  railroad  stations,  but 
aside  from  this,  in  the  very  great  majority 
of  cases,  the  entrances  are  reduced  to  three 
or  four  main  roads.  Frequently  the  num- 
ber of  important  entrances  is  still  less.  It 
becomes,  therefore,  a  relatively  simple  mat- 
ter to  manage  the  entrance  problem  effec- 
tively. 

Most  of  all,  it  must  always  be  remem- 
bered that  these  entrances  should  have  the 
character  and  dignity  of  village  portals. 
Civilization  has  passed  the  day  of  city  gates. 
We  no  longer  have  walled  towns,  guarded 
by  drawbridge  and  portcullis.  In  olden 
times,  it  was  literally  possible  to  meet  a 
stranger  at  the  city  gate  and  to  bring  to  him 
the  keys  of  the  city.  The  fact  that  the  gates 
have  disappeared,  however,  does  not  mean 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

that  we  are  less  hospitable  than  formerly. 
Indeed,  it  means  quite  the  opposite.  We 
wish  to  welcome  people  freely  and  cordially 
to  our  town.  We  must  see,  therefore,  that 
the  town  entrance  is  clean,  dignified,  hospi- 
table, inviting.  We  should  give  to  it  the 
same  character  which  we  would  give  to  the 
front  door  of  a  church  or  to  the  front  doors 
of  our  own  homes. 


Roadways  are  generally  made  crowning 
in  the  center,  so  that  water  runs  to  the  sides, 
but  frequently  the  fall  lengthwise  of  the 
roadway  is  less  than  it  should  be.  City  en- 
gineers are  usually  inclined  to  make  the 
grade  along  the  length  of  a  street  as  nearly 
level  as  possible.  Authorities  who  have 
given  the  subject  of  roads  considerable  study 
recommend  a  fall  lengthwise  of  not  less  than 
one  foot  in  one  hundred  and  twenty-five,  nor 
more  than  six  feet  in  one  hundred.  Such 
grades  are  not  always  feasible,  but  a  certain 
amount  of  variation  in  level  can  usually  be 
made  in  a  residence  street  which  will  make 
it  much  more  pleasing  in  appearance,  and 
have  certain  practical  advantages  in  keeping 
the  street  dry. 

L.  H.  BAILEY, 
"Garden  Making." 


CHAPTER  III 
ROADS  AND  STREETS 

ROAD  improvement  is  one  of  the  most 
obvious  forms  of  rural  betterment.  It 
is  also  one  of  the  most  fundamental.  It  is 
most  closely  and  positively  related  to  eco- 
nomic advances;  and  improvement  in  eco- 
nomic efficiency  forms  the  absolute  basis  of 
all  permanent  community  progress.  Every 
phase  of  country  and  village  life  is  affected 
by  the  condition  of  the  public  highways— 
usually  profoundly  affected.  Centralized 
schools  and  rural  mail  delivery  wait  on  good 
roads;  church  congregations  fluctuate  with 
the  condition  of  the  highways;  and  one 
political  party  or  the  other  carries  the  elec- 
tion according  to  whether  the  rural  roads 
are  passable  and  the  country  vote  comes  to 
the  polls. 

It  has  been  estimated  rather  carefully  that 
there  are  2,200,000  miles  of  public  roads  in 


the  United  States.  Between  8  and  9  per 
cent  of  this  enormous  mileage  has  been  im- 
proved by  surfacing  with  gravel,  oyster 
shells,  stone  and  other  material.  Something 


VILE  COUNTRY   ROAD 
Thousands   of   miles   like   this  still   exist 

over  ninety  per  cent  of  the  public  high- 
ways, on  the  other  hand,  are  totally  unim- 
proved. 

It  has  been  shown  also  that  the  average 
cost  of  handling  farm  crops  on  the  public 

33 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


roads  of  the  United  States  is  approximately 
23  cents  per  ton  mile.  The  cost  of  hauling 
similar  freight  on  the  highly  improved 
roads  of  France  and  Germany  is  known  to 
be  about  8  cents  per  ton-mile,  or  only  a 


THE  IMPROVED  ROAD  IMPROVES  THE  SCHOOL 

trifle  over  one-third  the  average  cost  in 
America.  We  may  show  these  differences 
in  our  own  country  by  comparing  the  rela- 
tively good  roads  of  Massachusetts  with  the 
average  unimproved  roads  of  Arkansas.  The 
average  cost  of  hauling  farm  crops  in 

34 


Massachusetts  is  calculated  to  be  9^2  cents 
the  ton-mile,  while  in  Arkansas  it  is  over 
twice  as  much,  or  20  cents.  Inasmuch  as 
the  average  distance  from  farm  to  railroad 
station  is  about  twice  as  great  in  Arkansas 
as  in  Massachusetts,  the  farmers  of  the 
former  state  are  paying  about  four  times  as 
much  for  hauling  their  crops  to  market. 
And  this  computation  makes  no  account  of 
railroad  freight  charges  either. 

The  Bureau  of  Road  Inquiry  in  Wash- 
ington has  estimated  that  in  1906  there  were 
over  200  million  tons  of  farm,  garden  and 
forest  products  hauled  to  railway  stations 
by  wagon  over  an  average  haul  of  9.4  miles, 
which,  at  the  rate  of  23  cents  per  ton  mile, 
would  mean  the  enormous  expense  of  $432,- 
400,000.  And  this  certainly  represents  less 
than  one-half  the  use  of  the  highways.  If 
our  roads  could  have  been  as  good  as  the 
best  of  the  French  and  German  roads,  so  as 
to  reduce  this  cost  to  8  cents  per  ton-mile, 
it  would  have  meant  the  saving  of  $278,- 
130,000. 

Statistics  which  we  need  not  stop  to  quote 

35 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

will  show  further  that  the  money  spent  in 
this  country  for  road  improvement  is  largely 
wasted.  This  is  more  disheartening  than 
the  other  fact  that  the  sums  raised  for  road 
betterments  are  always  too  small.  Consid- 
ering these  figures,  which  are  rough  but 
safe  estimates,  or  looking  at  the  matter  from 
any  standpoint,  it  appears  that  the  road 
problem  is  one  of  enormous  magnitude  and 
incalculable  importance 

ROAD  AND  STREET  PLANNING 

In  America  we  are  too  much  committed 
to  the  rectangular,  checkerboard  system  of 
road  design.  The  damage  has  gone  farthest 
in  the  flat  prairie  states  of  the  Central  West, 
but  it  has  gone  too  far  in  every  state.  Towns 
which  are  suddenly  created,  as  those  of 
Minnesota  and  Oklahoma,  are  most  subject 
to  this  defect.  The  town  is  made  first  on 
paper,  months  or  years  before  it  exists  on  the 
land;  and  in  projecting  such  a  town  it  is 
always  easier  to  draw  the  map  with  the 
straightedge  than  to  follow  contours.  On 

36 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 


the  other  hand,  those  villages  of  New  Eng- 
land, old  England  and  the  old  country  gen- 
erally, which  have  grown  up  gradually  and 
were  not  mapped  until  their  growth  was 


COUNTRY  LANE   IN   AUTUMN 


accomplished,  have  a  very  different  layout. 
The  plan  is  much  more  irregular  than  that 
of  the  Oklahoma  town;  it  seems  less  sim- 
ple and  less  logical.  The  fact  is,  however, 

37 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

that  it  is  more  natural  and  therefore  more 
logical  and  convenient.  Besides  being  more 
natural  and  convenient  the  irregular  ar- 
rangement is  infinitely  more  pleasing  to  the 
eye.  Compare  the  best  prairie  town  in  Illi- 
nois, Iowa  or  Nebraska  with  the  poorest 
rural  village  in  England,  Germany,  Switz- 
erland or  Northern  Italy  and  see  how 
bright  and  picturesque  appears  the  latter, 
how  plain  and  stupid  appears  the  former. 

Modern  study  of  the  problems  of  street 
and  road  design  has  developed  some  pretty 
definite  ideas  which  we  may  present  as  sim- 
ple rules. 

I.  Main  roads  should  be  as  direct  as 
possible  between  all  principal  centers.  This 
principle  is  constantly  violated  in  town  and 
country.  The  railroad  depot  may  be  eight 
blocks  south  and  six  blocks  west  of  the  hotel, 
but  the  omnibus  has  to  travel  fourteen 
blocks  to  and  from  every  train;  while  if 
there  was  a  reasonable  diagonal  street  the 
distance  would  be  reduced  to  ten  blocks, 
and  a  haul  of  eight  blocks  saved  in  every 
round  trip.  This  would  mean  a  saving  of 

38 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 


several  dollars  every  day — combining  all 
traffic — in  the  smallest  and  sleepiest  town. 
It  is  incomprehensible  how  the  big  and 
thriving  towns,  accustomed  as  they  are  to 
take  themselves  so  seriously  and  to  boast  of 


THE  MODERN  CEMENT  BRIDGE  ON  COUNTRY  ROAD 

their  practical  improvements  and  their  busi- 
ness enterprise,  should  ever  tolerate  such  an 
absurd  and  wasteful  town  plan. 

It  is  an  odd  fact  that  the  people  who  live 
on  the  central  prairies  imagine  that  their 

39 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

rectangular  road  system  is  correct  and  are 
always  laughing  at  the  crooked  and  irregu- 
lar roads  of  the  northeastern  states.  The 
New  England  system,  though  by  no  means 
perfect,  is  much  the  better. 

For  a  concrete  example  let  us  look  at 
Saline  County  and  Rice  County,  Kansas, 
two  counties  which  almost  touch  corners. 
From  Salina,  the  county  seat  of  Saline 
County,  to  Lyons,  the  county  seat  of  Rice 
County,  the  direct  distance  is  roughly  55 
miles,  say  a  good  two  hours'  ride  in  a  com- 
fortable automobile.  But  there  is  no  direct 
road,  and  the  traveler  would  be  obliged  to 
"follow  section  lines"  all  the  way,  some- 
times on  good  roads  and  sometimes  on  poor 
roads,  turning  at  right  angles  every  few 
miles,  and  covering  80  miles  of  such  road  in- 
stead of  55  miles  of  straight  trunk  road 
which  a  better  system  would  put  at  his  dis- 
posal. 

2.  Main  roads  should  be  well  built  and 
•ic ell  maintained.  Where  there  are  no  main 
roads,  all  highways  being  66  feet  wide,  it 
is  difficult  to  carry  out  this  rule. 

40 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 

3.  Secondary  roads  should  be  narrower, 
and    the    cost    of    construction    and    main- 
tenance should  be  proportioned  to  their  im- 
portance  and   use.      In   the   prairie   states, 
opened  under  government  survey,  all  roads 
are  66  feet  wide — a  most  absurd  width  for 
the  majority  of  them.    Nine-tenths  of  these 
roads    could   be    narrowed    to   one    rod    in 
width;  leaving  less  space  for  the  road  over- 
seers to  care  for  and  adding  six  acres  of 
farming  land  to  each  mile  of  farms. 

4.  The  radiating  or   spider-web   system 
of  roads   is  generally   best,  but  this   must 
always  be  more  or  less  modified  to  meet  the 
local  conditions.     Of  these  local  conditions 
the  most  important  is  the  one  next  to  be 
mentioned. 

5.  Roads  and  streets  should  follow  the 
contours    of    the    land.      Instead    of    being 
forced  in  straight  lines  directly  over  hills, 
streets  should  circle  about  the  hills  on  prac- 
ticable grades. 

The  protection  of  roads  where  they  cross 
railway  lines  at  grade,  and  the  abolition  of 
grade  crossings  wherever  practicable,  are 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

also  points  to  be  kept  in  mind  in  all  schemes 
of  road  improvement. 

In  any  local  scheme  of  road  improvement 
there  is  much  to  be  done  besides  making 


THE  CONCRETE  BRIDGE  ON  A  LARGER  SCALE 
A  bridge  of  beauty  as  well  as  utility 

the  attempt  to  apply  the  foregoing  rules. 
The  rules,  indeed,  cannot  be  carried  out, 
except  in  part,  in  any  established  com- 
munity. More  changes  can  be  made,  in  the 

42 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 

course  of  time,  than  one  would  suppose; 
and  it  is  possible  by  careful  study  and  con- 
tinued effort  to  approximate  these  ideals 
more  closely  than  the  pessimist  would  ad- 
mit. Yet  in  most  neighborhoods  the  im- 
provement of  the  road  plan  is  largely  a  mat- 
ter of  adjusting  details — of  clearing  up 
small  defects.  A  heavy  grade  may  be  abol- 
ished in  one  place;  in  another  place  a  bridge 
may  be  put  in  so  as  to  offer  a  shorter  cut 
between  important  traffic  points;  one  road 
may  be  turned  along  a  level  valley  instead 
of  being  forced  over  a  hill;  another  road 
can  be  diverted  round  a  swamp ;  and  so  on 
through  the  list.  There  is  hardly  a  town- 
ship in  the  United  States  where  the  road 
plan  could  not  be  improved;  and  in  many 
cases  truly  revolutionary  improvements 
would  be  possible. 

When  all  practicable  changes  in  road 
plan  have  been  made  there  remain  such  im- 
portant improvements  as  cuts  and  fills, 
bridges,  culverts,  drainage,  macadamizing, 
etc.  Road  improvement  is  in  fact  a  never- 
ending  task. 

43 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

KINDS  OF  ROAD  CONSTRUCTION 

There  are  hundreds  of  systems  of  road 
making,  and  thousands  of  variations  of  these 
systems.  The  subject  is  such  a  large  and 
difficult  one  that  there  have  been  dozens  of 
books  written  on  it.  It  would  be  quite  out 
of  place  here  to  take  up  a  treatise  on  road 
construction,  but  it  is  worth  while  to  notice 


PICTURESQUE   AND   SOLID   STONE    BRIDGE 

a  few  of  the  more  important  methods,  with 
special  reference  to  their  adaptability  to 
rural  conditions  and  village  improvement. 
Of  course,  we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact 
that,  with  state  assistance,  and  perhaps 
eventually  with  federal  assistance,  in  the 
building  of  permanent  highways,  we  shall 
be  constantly  tending  toward  more  and 

44 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 

more  permanent  and  expensive  types  of  con- 
struction. While  we  must  urge  that  more 
thoughtful  study  be  given  to  the  common 
earth  roads,  we  must  not  lose  any  oppor- 
tunity to  introduce  telford  or  macadam. 

Earth  Roads.  Taking  it  the  continent 
over,  it  would  be  perfectly  safe  to  guess  that 
ninety-five  per  cent  of  all  the  country  roads 
are  earth  roads.  Probably  a  proportionate 
number  of  these  are  of  the  local  soil  without 
amendment.  If  the  road  passes  over  a  sandy 
stretch,  the  road  bed  is  of  sand;  if  the  way 
passes  over  clay  or  black  loam,  the  road  bed 
is  of  the  same  material.  These  roads  have 
been  constructed  at  very  low  cost,  thousands 
of  miles  having  cost  practically  nothing  at 
all,  and  the  annual  maintenance  expense  is 
kept  in  proportion.  But  the  results  are  not 
always  satisfactory.  As  soon  as  the  traffic 
begins  to  make  any  severe  demands  on  such 
roads  they  prove  inadequate,  and  substantial 
improvements  are  required. 

Nevertheless,  well-made  earth  roads  are 
often  among  the  pleasantest  to  travel  and 
often  render  very  satisfactory  service.  In 

45 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

constructing  earth  roads,  drainage  is  a 
prime  requirement.  Underdrainage  with 
tile  should  be  applied  wherever  thorough 
work  is  attempted.  This  should  be  supple- 
mented by  proper  side  ditches,  and  surface 
drainage  should  be  constantly  assured  by 
keeping  the  road  crowning  and  well  graded 
The  proper  construction  of  earth  roads  is 
greatly  facilitated  by  the  use  of  good  mod- 
ern road  machinery. 

Gravel  Roads.  Next  to  the  earth  road 
we  may  place  the  gravel  road.  Almost 
anywhere  where  any  sort  of  gravel  can  be 
secured  it  can  be  used  to  advantage  in  im- 
proving the  surfaces  of  earth  roads.  How- 
ever, there  are  very  great  differences  in 
gravel  roads,  some  being  no  better  than  un- 
improved loam,  others  being  hardly  less 
satisfactory  than  good  macadam.  The 
gravel  should  be  of  good  quality,  that  is 
hard  and  tough.  It  should  be  of  different 
sizes  and  it  should  contain  or  should  be 
mixed  with  some  sort  of  binding  material. 
Clay  is  the  material  most  commonly  used 
as  a  binder,  but  limestone,  ground  oyster 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 

shells,  fine  silica  and  other  local  materials 
are  often  used. 

Burnt  Clay  Roads  are  finding  some  favor 
in  sections  where  sand  and  gravel  do  not 
exist  and  where  stone  roads  would  be  too 
expensive.  In  such  districts  where  the  soil 
is  tough,  sticky  clay,  the  common  earth 
roads  are  particularly  bad.  During  the 
spring  season  they  may  be  impassable  for 
weeks.  By  thorough  burning,  however, 
this  clay  may  be  rendered  so  hard  as  to  make 
a  fairly  good  road  material.  It  is  then 
broken  into  lumps  and  rolled  into  place  on 
the  road  surface  much  as  gravel  is  used. 

Sand-Clay  Roads.  Sand  and  clay  mixed 
in  proper  proportions  and  suitably  worked 
into  place  make  a  most  excellent  earth  road. 
Frequently  they  do  not  naturally  exist  in  the 
right  proportions.  There  may  be  too  much 
sand,  in  which  case  the  road  bed  cuts  to 
pieces  and  traction  is  very  heavy.  Or  there 
may  be  too  great  a  proportion  of  clay,  in 
which  case  the  road  bed  absorbs  water  and 
becomes  sticky  and  impassable.  Where 
these  deposits  of  clay  and  sand  exist  in  the 

47 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

same  neighborhood,  however,  they  may  be 
artificially  mixed  in  the  right  proportions; 
after  which,  with  proper  working,  they 
make  excellent  country  roads. 


RUSTIC    BRIDGE,    BEAUTIFUL    AND    SATISFACTORY 

Oil  or  Tar  Roads.  Various  kinds  of  oil, 
tar  and  asphalt  have  been  used  in  road  mak- 
ing. These  are  applied  in  various  ways  to 
sand  roads,  clay  roads,  gravel  roads,  and 
even  to  stone  roads.  The  results  vary  all  the 
way  from  complete  satisfaction  to  utter  fail- 


ure.  Oil  and  tar  in  the  hands  of  experi- 
enced engineers  seem  to  be  generally  rather 
valuable,  more  especially  in  the  preserva- 
tion and  maintenance  of  well-built  streets. 
At  the  present  time  it  can  hardly  be  said  that 
these  materials  promise  much  for  the  im- 
provement of  rural  highways  under  the 
management  of  untrained  road  overseers. 

Stone  Roads.  Telford  and  macadam 
roads  constructed  of  stone  at  an  expense  of 
$3,000  to  $10,000  a  mile  have  proved  alto- 
gether the  most  satisfactory  styles  of  road 
construction.  The  initial  cost  is  so  great 
as  to  limit  their  use  to  a  small  fraction  of 
our  national  road  mileage.  The  high  cost 
also  makes  it  wise  at  all  times  to  undertake 
their  construction  only  under  the  direction 
of  trained  engineers.  However,  where  a 
reasonable  state  road  policy  has  been 
adopted  with  a  view  to  the  development  of 
permanent  roads,  these  more  expensive 
methods  of  construction  should  nearly  al- 
ways be  used.  Even  under  county  subsidy 
and  control  a  considerable  proportion  of 
permanent  stone  road  ought  to  be  built. 

49 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

• 

ROAD  TAXES 

Road  taxes  in  America  are  mostly  of  three 
kinds,  as  follows: 

1.  Poll   taxes,   levied   in   nearly    every 
state,  usually  at  the  rate  of  $2.00  per  head. 
Often  these  are  payable  in  labor,  and  in 
many  districts  practically  the  whole  amount 
is  collected  in  this  form.    It  is  an  old  custom, 
and  a  thoroughly  bad  one.     It  represents  a 
state  of  social  and  political  organization  too 
crude  to  be  tolerated  anywhere  in  America, 
where  newspapers  penetrate.    The  poll  tax 
is  unjust  in  principle  and  vicious  in  practice. 

2.  Property    Taxes,   levied   with    other 
taxes,  sometimes  by  towns,   sometimes  by 
counties  and  occasionally  by  states.    These 
are  and  should  always  be  the  principal  sup- 
port of  the  public  roads. 

3.  Special  Taxes,  as  those  on  dogs,  auto- 
mobiles and  other  special  luxuries.    There 
seems  to  be  an  obvious  propriety  in  taxing 
automobiles  for  the  support  of  road  im- 
provement, for  these  machines  are  exceed- 

50 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 

ingly  destructive  to  every  sort  of  roadbed 
on  which  they  run. 

ROAD   MANAGEMENT 

The  highways  of  the  United  States  are 
under  various  forms  of  ownership  and  con- 
trol. Usually  control  follows  ownership, 
but  occasionally  state-built  roads  are  turned 
over  to  local  control.  The  principal  forms 
of  management  are  by  towns,  counties  or 
states. 

The  town  form  of  government,  prevalent 
in  the  T^ew  England  states,  usually  carries 
with  it  the  ownership,  support  and  manage- 
ment of  the  bulk  of  the  roads.  The  actual 
management  commonly  falls  to  a  highway 
surveyor  or  similar  elective  individual,  sub- 
ject more  or  less  to  direction  from  a  board 
of  selectmen,  and  subject  further  to  special 
instructions  through  votes  in  town  meetings. 
In  western  states,  where  the  town  form  of 
government  is  hardly  known,  the  roads  are 
looked  after  by  districts.  There  may  be  two 
to  four  districts  to  each  township,  with  a 
separate  road  overseer  elected  for  each  dis- 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

trict.  This  system  is  the  least  efficient  and 
satisfactory  yet  devised.  The  administrative 
district  is  too  small,  the  responsibility  of  the 
overseer  too  slight,  the  interests  of  the  citi- 
zens too  much  scattered.  The  town  system 
in  the  eastern  states  is  better,  because  the 
responsibility  of  the  highway  surveyor  is 
larger  and  better  enforced. 

In  a  few  states  county  systems  of  super- 
vision have  been  put  on  trial.  These  sys- 
tems usually  provide  for  the  election  of  a 
county  engineer  or  road  surveyor,  with 
more  or  less  control  by  the  board  of  county 
commissioners.  These  county  systems  have 
generally  been  proposed  as  reforms,  and  two 
special  objects  are  commonly  sought:  First, 
a  larger  accumulation  of  funds  can  be  ap- 
plied to  the  construction  of  permanent  road- 
ways on  important  routes  instead  of  fritter- 
ing everything  away  in  little  dabs  on  unused 
byways.  Second,  the  county  can  pay  the 
salary  necessary  to  command  the  continuous 
services  of  a  trained  engineer.  On  the  face 
of  it  this  system  is  much  better  than  the 
town  or  district  system,  but  it  has  not  yet 

52 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 

established  itself  widely  throughout  the 
United  States. 

Several  of  the  more  progressive  states 
have  now  established  systems  of  state  roads, 
usually  employing  expert  engineers  under 
the  direction  of  a  permanent  state  highway 
commission.  These  systems  of  state  roads, 
supplementing  county  or  town  roads  or 
both,  have  fully  justified  their  creation. 
They  should  be  extended  rapi'dly  to  every 
state  in  the  Union. 

A  good  deal  has  been  said  about  national 
aid  to  good  roads.  National  roads  have 
been  discussed  since  the  foundation  of  the 
federal  government,  and  at  the  present  time 
federal  aid  is  strongly  urged  by  an  enlight- 
ened and  influential  section  of  our  popula- 
tion. The  present  writer  entertains  serious 
doubts  as  to  the  wisdom  of  this  policy,  feel- 
ing that  the  present  tendency  to  invoke  fed- 
eral aid  and  control  in  every  sort  of  enter- 
prise is  being  enormously  overdone,  and 
that  there  is  likely  soon  to  be  a  strong  reac- 
tion toward  state  sovereignty. 

Under  whatever   system   or   systems   the 

S3 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

work  may  be  done,  its  very  great  importance 
is  altogether  obvious.  Road  improvement 
is  one  of  the  most  primary,  most  far-reach- 
ing and  most  persistent  forms  of  rural  or 
village  betterment.  In  this  connection  it  is 


STONE    MASONRY   BRIDGE   WITH    GOOD    PLANTINGS 

interesting  to  note  the  findings  of  the  Coun- 
try Life  Commission.  After  their  extended 
public  hearings  and  letter  inquiries, covering 
with  remarkable  thoroughness  all  parts  of 
the  United  States,  they  had  the  following 

54 


ROADS  AND  STREETS 

report  to  make  on  the  question  of  rural  road 
improvement: 

"The  demand  for  good  highways  is  gen- 
eral among  the  farmers  of  the  entire  United 
States.  Education  and  good  roads  are  the 
two  needs  most  frequently  mentioned  in  the 
hearings.  Highways  that  are  usable  at  all 
times  of  the  year  are  now  imperative,  not 
only  for  the  marketing  of  produce,  but  for 
the  elevation  of  the  social  and  intellectual 
status  of  the  open  country  and  the  improve- 
ment of  health  by  insuring  better  medical 
and  surgical  attendance. 

"The  advantages  are  so  well  understood 
that  arguments  for  better  roads  are  not 
necessary  here.  Our  respondents  are  now 
concerned  largely  with  the  methods  of  or- 
ganizing and  financing  the  work.  With 
only  unimportant  exceptions,  the  farmers 
who  have  expressed  themselves  to  us  on  this 
question  consider  that  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment is  fairly  under  obligation  to  aid  in  the 
work. 

"We  hold  that  the  development  of  a  fully 
serviceable  highway  system  is  a  matter  of 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

national  concern,  co-ordinate  with  the  de- 
velopment of  waterways  and  the  conserva- 
tion of  our  native  resources.  It  is  absolutely 
essential  to  our  internal  development.  The 
first  thing  necessary  is  to  provide  expert 
supervision  and  direction  and  to  develop  a 
national  plan.  All  the  work  should  be  co- 
operative between  the  Federal  Government 
and  the  States.  The  question  of  federal 
appropriation  for  highway  work  in  the 
States  may  well  be  held  in  abeyance  until  a 
national  service  is  provided  and  tested.  We 
suggest  that  the  United  States  Government 
establish  a  highway  engineering  service,  or 
equivalent  organization,  to  be  at  the  call  of 
the  States  in  working  out  effective  and  eco- 
nomical highway  systems." 


Nicht  jeder  Baum  eignet  sich  fur  ]ede 
Strasze.  Nur  gedankenlose  Unwirtschaft- 
lichkeit  wird  fur  die  Strasze  beliebige 
Baume  anpflanzen.  Der  Boden,  der  Zweck 
und  schlieszlich  auch  der  etwaige  Nutzen 
werden  in  erster  Reihe  zu  beachten  sein, 
<wenn  man  den  Baumschmuck  auch  kunstle- 
risch  einiverten  will.  Nicht  die  Gleichheit 
der  Baume  oder  ihre  V  erteilung  an  den 
Wegen  macht  die  kunstlerische  Wirkung, 
sondern  die  uberlegene  Planung,  die  fur 
leden  Weg  den  entsprechenden  Baum  zu 
finden  weisz,  der  im  Zusammenhang  mil 
dem  ganzen  Landschaftsbilde  durchaus 
harmonisch  sein  follte. 

ROBERT  MIELKE, 

"Das  Dorf." 


CHAPTER  IV 
ROADSIDE  TREES 

NOTHING  goes  farther  to  give  a  rural 
village  an  air  of  peace,  prosperity 
and  happiness  than  an  abundance  of  well- 
grown  trees  along  its  streets.  This  truth 
needs  no  argument;  it  is  universally  ac- 
cepted. Trees  are  introduced  into  city 
streets  as  far  as  traffic  will  allow,  and  many 
miles  of  country  road  have  likewise  been 
planted.  With  respect  to  the  country  roads 
it  is  easy  to  judge  that  tree  planting  has  not 
gone  far  enough.  Stretches  of  tree-lined 
country  streets  are  still  decidedly  rare;  and 
unquestionably  all  rural  dwellers  and 
country  travelers  would  be  glad  to  have 
more  planting  done.  It  might  not  be  desir- 
able to  have  every  mile  of  country  road 
bordered  by  trees,  and  in  some  places  they 
would  be  a  distinct  detriment;  but  for  the 
present  everyone  is  safe  in  practicing  and 

58 


ROADSIDE  TREES 


urging  on  others  the  planting  of  good 
adaptable  trees  on  public  and  private  streets 
in  all  villages  and  rural  districts.  Such  im- 
provements will  add  to  the  beauty  of  any 
farm.  Road  planting,  if  generally  under- 
taken in  any  neighborhood,  would  quickly 
bring  that  community  into  high  reputation 
for  progressive  public  spirit.  A  campaign 
for  the  upbuilding  of  any  neighborhood 
can  hardly  miss  this  easy  and  attractive 
feature  of  roadside  planting. 

On  country  roads  a  good  many  species  of 


CUT-LEAVED    MAPLES   ON    A    NARROW    VILLAGE   STREET 


59 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

trees  can  be  used  which  are  unavailable  in 
city  planting,  as,  for  example,  white  pines 
and  evergreens  generally.  These  make 
possible  magnificent  effects  otherwise  un- 
known. Fruit  trees,  too,  are  sometimes 
planted  along  country  lanes.  In  the  apple 
districts  of  Nova  Scotia,  for  instance,  there 
are  miles  of  streets  glorious  in  May  with 
apple  blossoms  and  at  harvest  time  with  the 
ripening  fruit.  The  practice  of  growing 
fruit  trees  on  public  roads,  the  community 
owning  the  trees,  is  often  recommended  in 
America,  the  recommendations  usually  be- 
ing fortified  by  citations  from  European 
practice.  After  having  traveled  through  all 
the  countries  of  central  Europe,  I  am  left 
with  the  impression  that  this  scheme  of 
fruit  trees  along  public  roads  is  much  less 
common  and  much  less  successful  than  en- 
thusiastic newspaper  writers  have  allowed 
us  to  believe. 

Tree  planting  nowadays  is  largely  done 
on  arbor  day.  There  is  no  objection,  how- 
ever, to  planting  trees  on  other  days.  The 
old  Scotchman's  advice  holds  good  univer- 

60 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

sally,  "Aye  be  plantin'  a  tree,  Jock!"  Ar- 
bor day  exercises  ought  to  be  encouraged, 
though,  and  more  systematically  planned 
for.  Each  school  district  or  country  neigh- 
borhood should  have  some  settled  scheme 
of  tree  planting.  The  usual  custom  of  wait- 
ing till  arbor  day  morning,  and  then  look- 
ing about  to  find  a  corner  where  some  tree 
may  be  bestowed,  is  not  sufficiently  fore- 
sighted  to  suit  rational  people.  There 
should  be  a  neighborhood  plan  in  which 
it  is  specified,  on  the  basis  of  proper  study 
and  consultation,  that  this  street  is  to  be 
treated  in  one  way  and  that  street  in  another. 
Then  when  it  is  thus  deliberately  planned 
to  set  a  certain  stretch  of  public  road  to 
pines  or  oaks  or  cottonwoods  the  school  can 
turn  out  on  arbor  day,  and  with  the  help 
of  parents  and  friends,  set  a  stretch  of  the 
permanent  rows. 

In  all  the  northern  states  spring  planting 
is  the  most  common  practice  and  is  gener- 
ally to  be  recommended.  In  the  southern 
states  winter  is  usually  the  better  season  for 
setting  out  trees. 

61 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

Street  trees  usually  receive  very  little 
care.  Often  the  small  attentions  they  re- 
ceive are  worse  than  useless,  coming  from 
the  trolley  men  or  telephone  linesmen,  who 


NATURAL  GROWTH  OF  TREES  AND  SHRUBS,  GIVING  BEAUTIFUL 
ROADSIDE   EFFECT 


cut  and  hack  them  to  pieces  to  make  way  for 
ugly  and  unsafe  wires.  The  practices  of 
many  wire  stringers  is  hardly  less  than  crim- 
inal, and  it  is  a  wonder  that  any  civilized 

62 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

community  would  allow  the  work  to  go  on 
unchallenged.  In  every  neighborhood 
there  ought  to  be  some  officer  or  some  mo- 
bile and  effective  committee  especially 
authorized  to  take  the  part  of  the  trees  and 
to  prevent  these  shameless,  senseless  and 
useless  depredations.  Where  no  other  offi- 
cer has  the  work  particularly  assigned  to 
him  it  is  the  duty  of  the  road  overseer  or 
street  commissioner  to  look  after  the  trees. 
They  stand  in  the  public  roads  and  are  as 
much  public  property  as  the  bridges  and 
culverts.  Strangely  enough,  road  overseers 
generally  do  not  take  this  part  of  their  work 
seriously.  Not  only  do  they  neglect  to  pro- 
tect the  street  trees,  but  many  of  them  are 
themselves  the  perpetrators  of  the  most 
wretched  indignities  upon  their  wards.  A 
higher  standard  of  morals  and  common 
sense  needs  greatly  to  be  inculcated  in  these 
matters. 

In  some  states,  as  in  Massachusetts,  the 
law  provides  for  the  appointment  of  special 
tree  wardens.  Such  officers,  if  properly 
chosen,  can  do  a  vast  amount  of  good.  In 

63 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

any  state  where  the  tree  warden  system  ex- 
ists an  annual  conference  or  school  of  in- 
struction for  these  men  is  of  immeasurable 
value.  Each  local  man  attending  such  a 
conference  has  a  chance  to  check  up  his  own 
work,  to  see  what  good  ideas  have  been 


THE  WILD  ROADSIDE  IN  SPRINGTIME 

adopted  by  the  best  tree  men  in  his  state,  to 
receive  expert  instruction  on  insect  and 
fungus  diseases  and  on  spraying  and  to  ac- 
quire a  new  head  of  enthusiasm  to  carry 
him  through  the  drudgery  of  another  year. 
In  well-managed  parks  and  on  private 


ROADSIDE   TREES 

estates  nowadays  considerable  time  and 
money  are  spent  in  the  care  of  trees.  Each 
good  large  tree  is  worth  a  large  sum  of 
money,  running  into  hundreds  and  even 
thousands  of  dollars.  It  is  fair  to  say  that 
each  mature  tree  is  worth  an  average  annual 
care  of  one  to  five  dollars.  A  village  which 
has  1,000  good  mature  trees  to  care  for 
should  spend  at  least  $1,000  annually  on 
them;  and  in  sections  where  elm-leaf 
beetle,  gipsy  moth,  the  telephone  linesman 
or  other  serious  pest  has  to  be  fought,  this 
cost  should  be  trebled  or  quadrupled  or 
more. 

Trees  need  fertilizing:  some  street  trees 
starve  to  death.  In  many  sections  street 
trees  need  irrigation.  Trees  need  pruning, 
and  this  work  should  be  done  by  intelligent 
men — not  left  to  the  tree  butcher.  Spray- 
ing is  absolutely  necessary  in  many  districts 
and  would  be  a  paying  investment  in  many 
others.  There  are  professional  men  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  now  who  undertake  all 
these  kinds  of  work,  but  the  tree  warden  or 
some  reliable  local  nurseryman  is  usually 

65 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

the  best  one  to  be  intrusted  with  it.  The 
professional  "tree  doctors"  are  mostly  tree 
quacks,  and  many  of  them  are  humbugs  of 
the  first  quality,  though  there  are  indeed  a 
few  honest  men  in  the  fraternity  and  an- 
other few  who  really  have  some  expert 
knowledge  of  trees. 

THE  BEST   KINDS  OF  TREES 

The  best  street  tree  known  is  probably 
the  American  elm.  It  comes  nearest  the 
American  ideal.  Its  broad-spreading, 
shady  top,  its  arching  branches,  and  its  gen- 
eral air  of  dignity  commend  it  strongly  to 
the  American  taste.  It  is  planted  by  prefer- 
ence everywhere  in  the  region  where  it  suc- 
ceeds. This  region,  however,  is  rather 
closely  limited  to  the  New  England  states, 
New  York  state,  Michigan,  Ohio,  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  northern  New  Jersey.  Westward 
and  southward  it  does  not  succeed  so  well, 
and  though  frequently  planted,  it  is  gener- 
ally less  valuable  than  other  species.  At  the 
present  time,  the  American  elm  is  suffering 

66 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

seriously  from  the  elm-leaf  beetle,  and  with 
this  attack  suffers  also  a  waning  favoritism. 
The  elm-leaf  beetle,  combined  with  many 
other  troubles,  has  killed  thousands  of  the 
best  elms  in  the  eastern  states  during  the  past 
few  years.  The  beetle  can  be  restrained  by 
proper  spraying,  but  this  is  expensive  and 
requires  considerable  political  organization 
as  well  as  horticultural  apparatus. 

The  English  elm  is  sometimes  planted  in 
America,  but  does  not  do  well  as  a  street 
tree.  Under  no  circumstances  is  it  to  be 
compared  with  the  American  elm.  It  suf- 
fers equally  from  the  attacks  of  the  elm- 
leaf  beetle.  The  cork  elm  is  planted  in  some 
districts  in  the  western  and  central  states, 
and  is  regarded  as  a  very  promising  sort. 
It  is  a  native  of  Michigan  and  Ontario,  and 
is  to  be  specially  recommended  in  that  sec- 
tion. 

Next  to  the  elms,  the  sugar  maple  doubt- 
less makes  the  most  attractive  street  tree,  es- 
pecially for  country  roads.  It  does  its  best 
on  the  rich  rolling  uplands  of  New  Eng- 
land, Quebec,  Ontario,  New  York,  Michi- 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

gan,  Ohio,  Pennsylvania,  and  northern  New 
Jersey,  thus  covering  much  the  same  section 
as  the  American  elm.  Outside  of  this  region 
it  is  practically  worthless.  In  the  central 
prairie,  and  Rocky  Mountain  states,  the 
place  of  the  sugar  maple  is  usually  taken  by 
the  silver  or  soft  maple.  This  is  a  much  less 
valuable  tree,  and  never  reaches  the  size  or 
dignity  of  the  northeastern  rock  maple.  It 
has  the  advantages,  however,  of  growing 
rapidly,  of  withstanding  drouth,  and  of  be- 
ing otherwise  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of 
street  planting  in  the  prairie  states.  Along 
with  the  soft  maple,  one  finds:  also  the  ash- 
leaved  maple,  or  box  elder,  which  is  suited 
to  even  drier,  warmer  districts.  It  is  planted 
on  the  extreme  edge  of  the  prairies,  where 
no  other  trees  grow.  It  has  the  advantage  of 
growing  quickly,  but  very  little  else  to 
recommend  it. 

The  Norway  maple  is  also  largelv 
planted  as  a  street  tree,  and  while  it  has  ad- 
vantages in  certain  localities,  and  perhaps  is 
better  adapted  than  other  maples  for  nar- 
row city  streets,  it  is  not  generally  to  be 

68 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

recommended.  It  has  been  thus  far  more 
widely  planted  than  its  merits  deserve.  The 
sycamore  maple  stands  somewhat  in  the 
same  class,  being  a  good  ornamental  tree 
and  worth  using  in  special  circumstances, 
but  not  to  be  compared  with  some  of  the 
native  sorts  for  general  street  planting. 

Doubtless  the  next  place  in  our  list  of 
trees  belongs  to  the  sycamore  or  buttonwood. 
The  American  species  thrives  over  a  wide 
range,  from  the  eastern  seaboard  to  central 
Kansas  and  Nebraska.  It  is  a  large  tree 
and  requires  plenty  of  room.  For  this  rea- 
son, it  is  better  adapted  to  the  broad  streets 
of  country  villages  and  to  country  roads 
than  to  most  other  situations.  The  Euro- 
pean plane  tree,  or  sycamore,  is  somewhat 
more  formal  in  habit  of  growth,  more  sym- 
metrical, and  not  quite  so  large.  This  makes 
it  better  for  formal  streets.  It  is  a  species 
which  deserves  more  general  planting  in  the 
central  and  eastern  states. 

The  American  basswood  or  linden  suc- 
ceeds throughout  the  central  and  eastern 
states,  and  is  sometimes  planted  with  fair 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

satisfaction,  especially  on  country  roads. 
The  European  linden  is  very  much  better, 
however,  as  a  street  tree  if  one  succeeds  in 
getting  a  good  variety.  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  different  varieties  sold  by  nursery- 
men, but  these  are  so  badly  mixed  at  the 
present  time  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  sep- 
arate them.  Most  of  the  varieties  are  fairly 
good.  The  linden  is  particularly  good  for 
village  and  city  streets. 

Another  tree  which  is  well  adapted  to 
street  use  is  the  horse  chestnut,  the  Euro- 
pean species  being  generally  best.  This  has 
not  been  used  as  much  as  it  deserves,  and 
should  be  more  widely  planted,  especially 
in  Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  and  the  central 
and  southern  states.  It  has  some  defects, 
but  these  have  been  too  much  magnified  by 
its  critics. 

The  native  American  ashes,  especially  the 
white  ash,  are  good  street  trees.  They  are 
healthy,  vigorous,  symmetrical  trees  and 
subject  to  few  enemies.  They  form  com- 
paratively low  heads,  and  this  makes  them 
inconvenient  for  planting  along  the  line  of 

70 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

sidewalks.  For  farm  roads  and  country 
streets,  on  suitable  soils,  they  will  be  found 
wholly  adapted. 

The  oaks  have  never  had  the  favor  which 
their  merits  deserve.  They  make  excellent 
street  trees.  The  common  notion  that  they 
grow  so  slowly  as  to  make  them  undesirable 
is  not  justified  by  the  facts.  The  pin  oak, 
red  oak,  scarlet  oak,  and  white  oak,  all  make 
good  street  trees  and  grow  almost  as  rapidly 
as  the  elms  or  maples,  when  properly  estab- 
lished on  good  soils.  The  pin  oak  is  partic- 
ularly graceful  and  attractive,  and  is  now 
coming  into  something  like  general  favor. 
Other  species  of  oaks  are  desirable  in  par- 
ticular localities.  The  live  oak  is  every- 
where planted  and  admired  in  California 
and  the  Gulf  states.  In  the  central  and 
southern  states,  on  heavy,  moist  land,  the 
willow  oak  is  a  particularly  beautiful  tree. 
Its  charm  is  widely  recognized  in  its  native 
region,  but  the  species  has  not  been  suffi- 
ciently utilized  for  street  planting,  perhaps 
largely  because  it  does  not  succeed  on  high, 
dry  situations  chosen  for  village  streets. 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

In  the  prairie  and  Rocky  Mountain  states 
the  poplars  are  widely  used  and  enjoy  a 
well-earned  favor.  Their  rapid  growth, 
freedom  from  disease,  their  ability  to  with- 
stand drouth  and  other  untoward  circum- 
stances make  them  invaluable.  In  some 
circles  it  is  fashionable  to  sneer  at  the  pop- 
lars, but  they  deserve  more  kind  treatment. 
The  American  cottonwood  and  the  Carolina 
poplar  are  the  most  valuable  kinds.  The 
Lombardy  poplar,  sometimes  used  in  the 
eastern  states,  is  valuable  for  special  effects. 
It  is  not  to  be  generally  recommended  for 
street  planting. 

The  black  locust  is  sometimes  planted  in 
the  central  and  western  states.  Formerly,  it 
was  widely  used  in  the  eastern  states,  par- 
ticularly in  the  district  of  Long  Island.  In 
general,  it  is  not  suited  to  American  condi- 
tions and  should  not  be  chosen  \vhen  other 
trees  can  be  grown.  In  Europe,  where  it  is 
frequently  planted,  it  is  grown  in  the  form 
of  small  pollards,  and  under  this  treatment 
makes  an  excellent  ornamental  effect  along 
narrow  city  streets  and  about  city  squares. 

72 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

There  is  very  little  demand  for  anything  of 
this  kind  in  America,  and  especially  in  rural 
districts. 

The  ailanthus  is  worth  using  in  some 
special  instances  in  the  central  and  southern 
states.  It  is  particularly  good  for  city 
streets,  where  the  smoke  and  dust  seriously 
handicap  other  better  species. 

The  hackberry  somewhat  resembles  the 
elm  in  general  appearance  and  may  be 
profitably  substituted  for  it  in  many  places 
in  the  central  states. 

The  honey  locust,  umbrella  tree,  pepper 
tree,  various  palms,  and  various  eucalypti, 
besides  other  odds  and  ends  of  trees,  are  used 
for  street  planting,  sometimes  with  excellent 
effect.  All  these  belong  in  particular  local- 
ities and  are  to  be  used  in  special  instances. 

TREES  FOR  VARIOUS  LOCALITIES 

The  following  paragraphs  will  give  a 
general  idea  of  the  best  trees  and  those  most 
commonly  grown  in  the  various  parts  of  the 
country.  It  should  be  understood,  however, 
that  local  conditions  vary  enormously,  and 

73 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

that  great  care  should  be  taken  in  all  cases 
to  select  such  species  as  are  adapted  to  par- 
ticular soils  and  other  special  local  condi- 


WILD  BLACKBERRIES  AND  MIXED  SHRUBBERY  ALONG  THE 
COUNTRY    ROADSIDE 


tions.  When  trees  are  planted,  it  is  for  a 
long  term  of  years,  and  mistakes  are  not 
easily  rectified.  It  is  highly  important  that 
trees  well  adapted  to  the  site  should  be 

74 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

chosen  and  a  good  start  made,  because  the 
uniformity  of  the  street  rows  is  a  very  im- 
portant element  in  their  beauty. 

New  England.  The  American  elm  un- 
questionably stands  at  the  head  of  New 
England  trees.  The  second  best  tree  for 
New  England  planting  is  the  rock  maple. 
Probably  the  third  best  tree  for  New  Eng- 
land conditions  in  general,  and  especially 
for  planting  on  the  large  streets  of  villages 
and  country  districts,  is  the  sycamore.  Many 
of  the  oaks  are  also  desirable  and  have  not 
been  sufficiently  used.  White  pines,  which 
cannot  be  used  in  cities,  nor  even  in  busy 
villages,  produce  magnificent  effects  when 
planted  in  avenues  along  country  roads.  An 
avenue  of  white  pines  leading  up  from  the 
public  street  to  a  farmhouse,  in  the  south- 
ern manner,  makes  a  magnificent  effect, 
though  one  rarely  seen  in  New  England. 
Other  coniferous  trees  which  can  be  used 
in  New  England  rural  districts  are  the  na- 
tive spruce  and  the  Norway  spruce.  The 
Canada  balsam  is  sometimes  planted  in 
New  Hampshire  and  Maine.  . 

75 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

Central  States.  In  this  section  the 
American  elm  is  still  planted  to  some  ex- 
tent; the  silver  maple  takes  the  place  of  the 
sugar  maple;  the  sycamore  becomes  rela- 
tively more  valuable  and  should  be  widely 
planted;  and  the  poplars  begin  to  deserve 
considerable  notice.  Catalpas  are  sometimes 
used  for  street  planting,  but  are  not  gener- 
ally valuable.  The  hackberry,  the  honey 
locust,  and  the  ailanthus  are  worth  using  in 
special  instances.  The  several  species  of 
native  oaks  should  be  more  widely  used. 

Central-Southern  States.  In  this  district, 
the  cork  elm  takes  the  place  of  the  Ameri- 
can elm  to  a  large  extent.  The  Carolina 
poplar  is  successful  and  valuable.  The 
American  and  European  sycamores  grow 
especially  well  and  should  be  largely  used. 
Some  of  the  European  lindens  are  excellent. 
The  native  oaks,  especially  the  pin  oak, 
should  be  largely  used. 

Gulf  States.  In  this  section,  the  syca- 
more is  still  valuable,  and  the  American  elm 
is  grown  to  some  extent;  also  the  cork  elm 
and  the  hackberry.  The  sweet  gum  is  a 


PLEASING  GROUP  OF   ROADSIDE   PINE  TREES 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

beautiful  and  valuable  tree,  especially  for 
rural  villages  and  country  districts.  The 
live  oak  is  everywhere  highly  regarded,  and 
the  willow  oak  should  be  more  widely 
planted.  The  native  magnolia  is  quite 
widely  used,  especially  in  villages,  but  is 
not  often  presented  in  the  long,  dignified 
street  rows,  as  it  should  be.  The  camphor 
tree  and  the  Texas  umbrella  tree  are  also 
used  to  some  extent.  Palm  trees  are  occa- 
sionally attempted  in  street  plantings,  espe- 
cially in  Florida,  but  the  examples  of  their 
successful  use  are  very  rare. 

Prairie  and  Rocky  Mountain  States.  In 
this  naturally  treeless  region,  species  must 
be  chosen  which  will  withstand  drouth, 
and  the  poplars  are  among  the  best  of  these. 
The  cork  elm  is  coming  into  greater  favor, 
the  American  elm  being  attempted  only  on 
the  rich  bottom  lands,  with  relatively  large 
water  supply.  On  land  not  too  dry  the  pin 
oak  also  does  well.  In  the  very  driest 
regions,  dependence  will  be  placed  on  honey 
locust,  hackberry,  and  box  elder.  It  is  diffi- 
cult to  secure  fine  street  trees  in  this  section 

77 


except  in  those  fortunate  localities  where 
irrigation  is  practicable.  Still,  much  can  be 
done  to  give  the  landscape  a  dress  of  green- 
ery, to  supply  shade  for  streets  and  door 
yards,  and  to  give  villages  and  farm  yards 
a  tidy  and  homelike  appearance.  Efforts  of 
this  kind  count  for  more  in  such  a  district 
than  they  do  in  sections  where  trees  grow 
themselves  and  have  to  be  cut  down  to  make 
room  for  civilization. 

Washington  and  Oregon.  Professor  C. 
I.  Lewis  writes  me  that  for  this  region  the 
growing  of  street  trees  is  more  or  less  in  an 
experimental  stage.  He  says:  "The  tree 
that  is  used  more  than  any  other  is  the 
Oregon  maple,  but  it  is  of  doubtful  value  as 
a  street  tree.  It  is  more  adapted  to  some  of 
the  country  roads,  farm  homes,  etc.  The 
cork  elm  is  proving  to  be  one  of  the  finest 
trees  that  we  have,  it  stands  drought,  and 
also  moisture,  and  is  the  best  elm.  The 
black  locust  is  especially  good,  is  a  better 
tree  than  the  honey  locust,  is  long  lived, 
and  has  good  characteristics  for  our  street 
trees.  The  Oriental  plane  is  a  fine  tree,  and 

78 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

the  European  linden  should  be  used  more 
than  at  present.  The  scarlet  oak  I  have 
noted  also  will  do  splendidly,  since  I  have 
seen  quite  a  number  of  them  in  some  of  our 
towns.  Walnuts  are  planted  to  quite  an  ex- 
tent, but  I  do  not  recommend  them.  The 
California  maple  should  be  given  more  of 
a  trial  than  it  has  had.  The  horse  chestnut 
is  being  planted  quite  a  little.  When  you 
get  up  into  eastern  Oregon,  and  the  table 
lands  of  the  Inland  Empire,  the  box  elder, 
black  locusts,  and  the  poplars  are  the  best. 
The  native  poplars  seem  to  be  the  hardiest 
of  all,  and  succeed  where  many  other  trees 
will  fail." 

California.  In  an  admirable  article  on 
trees  for  California  planting  by  Mr.  J. 
Burtt  Davy  in  Bailey's  "Cyclopedia  of 
American  Horticulture"  the  following  trees 
are  recommended  for  streets  60  feet  wide 
or  less:  White  birch,  yellow  birch,  paper 
birch,  poplar-leaved  birch,  three  species  of 
catalpas  ( C.  bignonoides,  C.  ovata  and  C. 
speciosa),  Koelreuteria  paniculata,  Helia 
Azedarach  umbraculiformis,  Paulownia 

79 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

imperialist  Rhus  typhagia,  Sorbus  aucupa- 
ria.  Amongst  palm  tr^es  for  similar  streets 
the  following  species  are  recommended : 
GOT dy line  aus  traits,  C.  Banksii,  C.  indivisa, 
C.  stricta,  Erythea  edulis,  Livistona  aus- 
tralis,  Trachy  carpus  excelsus,  Washing- 
tonia  filifera,  and  W .  robusta.  Other  ever- 
green species,  however,  are  often  better  than 
palms,  and  of  these  Mr.  Davy  recommends 
Acacia  Baileyana,  A.  cyanophylla,  A.  fal- 
cata,  A.  lineata,  A.  longifolia,  A.  neriifolia, 
Myroporum  laetum,  Pittosporum  eugeni- 
oides,  P.  tenuifolium,  Herculia  diversifolia. 
For  larger  streets  of  80-100  feet  width,  the 
following  deciduous  trees  are  named  :  Silver 
maple,  white  ash,  velvet  ash  (Fraxinus  velu- 
tina),  coffee  tree,  pecan,  American  syca- 
more, Quercus  pedunculata,  black  locust, 
Scotch  elm.  There  are  several  large  grow- 
ing palms  also  which  will  serve  for  planting 
wide  streets.  The  most  popular  are  Wash- 
ingtonia  filifera,  W .  robusta  and  Livistoma 
australis.  To  these  should  be  added  the 
larger  species  of  acacia  and  eucalyptus 

80 


ROADSIDE  TREES 

Mr.  Davy  also  names  a  long  list  of  trees 
as  suitable  for  California  country  roads,  as 
follows: 


DECIDUOUS 


Acer  campestre, 

Acer  macrophyllum, 

Acer  Negundo, 

Acer  Negundo,  var.  Califor- 

nicum, 

Acer  platanoides, 
Acer  saccharinum, 
Aesculus  carnea, 
Aesculus  Hippocastanum, 
Ginkgo  biloba, 
Hicoria  Pecan, 
Juglans  Californica, 
Juglans  nigra, 
Juglans  Sieboldiana, 


Liriodendron  Tulipifera, 
Paulownia  imperialis, 
Phytolacca  dioica, 
Populus  nigra,  var.  Italica, 
Quercus  lobata, 
Quercus  pedunculata, 
Robinia  pseudacacia, 
Sophora  Japonica, 
Taxodium    distichum, 
Tilia   Americana, 
Tilia  European, 
Ulmus  Americana, 
Ulmus  campestris, 
Ulmus  racemosa. 


EVERGREEN 


Acacia  melanoxylon, 
Acacia  mollissima, 
Arbutus  Menziesii, 
Cinnamomum   Camphora, 
Cryptomeria  Japonica, 
Eucalyptus  botryoides, 
Eucalyptus  calophylla, 
Eucalyptus  capitellata, 
Eucalyptus  cornuta, 
Eucalyptus  diversicolor, 
Eucalyptus  leucoxylon, 
Eucalyptus  rostrata, 


Eucalyptus  rudis, 
Eucalyptus  viminalis, 
Ficus  macrophylla, 
Olea  Europaea, 
Pinus  radiata, 
Quercus, 
Schinus  molle, 
Sequoia  gigantea, 
Sequoia  sempervirens, 
Sterculia   diversifolia, 
Tristania  conferta, 
Umbellularia  Californica. 


Fence  out  pigs,  we  may — if  we  know 
how,  and  nobody  leaves  the  gate  open — but 
to  fence  out  a  genial  eye  from  any  corner  of 
the  earth  which  Nature  has  lovingly 
touched  with  that  pencil  which  never  re- 
peats itself — to  shut  up  a  glen  or  a  waterfall 
for  one  man's  exclusive  knowing  and  enjoy- 
ing— to  lock  up  trees  and  glades,  shady 
paths  and  haunts  along  rivulets — it  would 
be  an  embezzlement  by  one  man  of  God's 
gift  to  all.  A  capitalist  might  as  well  cur- 
tain off  a  star,  or  have  the  monopoly  of  an 
hour.  Doors  may  lock,  but  outdoors  is  a 
freehold  to  feet  and  eyes. 

N.  P.  WILLIS, 
"Out-doors  at  Idlewild." 


CHAPTER  V 
CIVIC  CENTERS 

IN  modern  city  building,  we  hear  a  great 
deal  about  civic  centers.  The  civic  center 
is  a  concrete  expression,  in  city  building,  of 
the  modern  genius  for  organization.  It  is 
the  public  effort  toward  efficient  adminis- 
tration combined  with  a  public  exhibition 
of  power  and  splendor.  It  is  the  imperial- 
ism of  democracy. 

In  village  and  rural  improvement,  we 
hear  less  of  civic  centers.  In  the  first  place, 
rural  improvement  has  not  progressed  so  far 
as  the  science  of  city  making.  In  the  second 
place,  there  is  not  the  same  strong  executive 
organization  in  the  rural  community  as  in 
the  large  city.  In  the  third  place,  the  village 
is  not  so  much  given  to  display  of  power. 

Nevertheless,  the  civic  center  belongs  to 
the  rural  community  as  well  as  to  the  city. 
It  occupies  the  same  place  in  village  affairs 
that  it  should  in  city  affairs.  The  village 

83 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


CIVIC  CENTERS 

needs  to  take  the  same  pride  in  itself  which 
is  manifest  in  the  city.  There  should  be  the 
same  exhibition  of  pride  and  patriotism. 
Relatively  speaking,  there  will  be  the  same 
gain  in  efficiency  of  administration. 

Practically  considered,  the  proposition 
for  the  development  of  a  civic  center  in  the 
village  or  country  town  means  an  aggrega- 
tion in  some  central  and  suitable  position  of 
the  public  business  and  of  the  public  build- 
ings. The  most  important  of  these,  viewed 
from  our  present  standpoint,  is  the  town 
hall.  With  this  we  may  include  the  court 
house,  town  library  or  other  local  institu- 
tions. If  the  town  possesses  a  separate  pub- 
lic library,  this  can  be  the  next  most  impor- 
tant building  and  the  one  most  urgently  to 
be  desired  at  the  civic  center.  The  day  will 
soon  come,  with  or  without  the  help  of  Mr. 
Carnegie,  when  every  enterprising  village 
in  this  country  will  have  its  public  library. 
In  many  cases  the  library  will  have  its  sepa- 
rate building.  It  is  reasonably  to  be  ex- 
pected that  in  a  large  percentage  of  cases  the 
public  library  will  be  chaste  and  dignified 

85 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

in  design,  a  building  expressing  the  senti- 
ment and  civic  aspiration  of  the  citizens. 
Such  a  building  should  be  geographically 
central  in  the  town,  as  it  is  central  in  the  in- 
tellectual life  of  the  community. 

The  post  office,  though  representing  the 
federal  rather  than  the  local  government,  is 


ANOTHER  VILLAGE  CENTER  IN  MASSACHUSETTS 


86 


CIVIC  CENTERS 

a  public  institution  and  peculiarly  the  prop- 
erty of  all  the  people.  In  very  many  country 
towns  it  has  developed  naturally  and 
through  the  force  of  circumstances  to  be  the 
civic  center.  It  is  the  forum  where  neigh- 
bors meet,  where  senators  are  elected  and 
where  horse  trades  are  consummated.  Here 
the  notices  of  auctions  are  posted  and  the 
coming  circus  announced.  Obviously  the 
postoffice  should  be  centrally  located,  and 
perhaps  it  is  no  more  than  right  that  the 
other  public  buildings  should  revolve 
around  it. 

The  greatest  of  public  institutions  in  the 
small  towa  (and,  in  fact,  in  the  city  as  well) 
is  the  public  school.  Therefore  the  high 
school  building,  or  the  main  school  build- 
ing, should  occupy  a  place  in  that  group  of 
public  structures  which  constitutes  the  civic 
center.  When  the  public  school  buildings 
come  to  be  used,  as  they  certainly  will  be  in 
the  near  future,  for  a  great  variety  of  public 
business,  the  propriety  and  the  need  of  a 
very  central  location  will  at  once  be  evident. 

The  next  most  important  institution  in  the 

87 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

community  is,  or  ought  to  be,  the  church. 
There  are  many,  indeed,  who  would  be  glad 
to  name  it  as  the  institution  of  first  impor- 
tance. Looking  the  facts  honestly  in  the 
face,  however,  we  cannot  claim  too  much 
for  its  influence  and  its  position  in  public 
esteem.  If  the  church  could  be  a  single  in- 
stitution, physically  represented  by  a  single 
beautiful  edifice,  the  situation  would  be 
very  different,  both  as  regards  spiritual  in- 
fluence and  civic  design.  The  church 
would  then  hold  a  more  powerful  place  in 
the  community,  and  it  could  command  a 
more  dignified  setting  in  the  community 
architecture.  Unfortunately,  even  the  most 
rural  towns  sometimes  try  to  support  a  half 
dozen  churches.  A  consequence  is  that  no 
one  of  these  organizations  has  any  large  in- 
fluence in  public  affairs  or  can  provide  a 
church  building  which  is  a  credit  to  the 
town.  A  half  dozen  mean  and  shabby 
structures  would  add  nothing  to  the  civic 
center,  either  physically  or  spiritually.  On 
the  other  hand,  when  one  or  more  churches 
have  really  achieved  a  sufficiently  high 


CIVIC  CENTERS 


COMMON  AND  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS,  NORTH  BROOKFIELD,  MASS. 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

standing  in  town  so  as  to  represent  the  senti- 
ment of  the  people  in  an  important  degree 
and  so  as  to  be  able  to  build  really  suitable 
buildings,  then  those  church  buildings  be- 
long to  the  public  and  will  be  placed,  with 
the  other  public  buildings,  at  the  center  of 
the  town. 

Nothing  could  be  finer,  from  the  stand- 
point of  civic  design,  nor  as  representing  the 
civic  life  of  a  community,  than  the  large, 
beautiful,  dignified  (usually  Congrega- 
tional or  Unitarian)  church,  fronting  on  the 
town  commons  in  many  New  England  vil- 
lages. These  come  the  nearest  to  represent- 
ing the  ideals,  both  of  civic  design  and 
church  influence,  of  anything  we  have  ever 
seen  in  America.  Of  course  in  many  Euro- 
pean villages,  where  the  citizens  are  all  ad- 
herents of  a  single  confessional,  the  case  is 
equally  good.  Here  the  church  naturally 
and  properly  becomes  the  physical,  intellec- 
tual and  spiritual  center  of  the  village.  As 
one  sees  such  a  town  from  a  distance,  it  is 
beautifully  dominated  by  its  own  church.  It 
is  greatly  to  be  hoped  that  the  follies  and 

90 


€>€> 


O  0  O 


/ 


DESIGN  FOR  A  SIMPLE  CIVIC  CENTER 


(enter* 
by;  /JcMs 
/<?/!. 


91 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

abuses  of  sectarianism  and  church  division 
in  this  country  will  be  greatly  abated  in  the 
future.  Some  slight  progress  seems  to  be 
making  in  that  direction,  but  it  is  altogether 
too  slow. 

In  certain  towns  and  villages  there  are 
other  public  or  semi-public  institutions 
which  ought  to  be  reckoned  as  part  of  the 
central  group,  which  we  here  call  the  civic 
center.  One  of  the  most  appropriate  of 
these  is  the  grange  hall,  which  one  finds  in 
many  towns  in  the  New  England  states. 
This,  in  fact,  often  becomes  the  center  of  the 
center,  the  principal  place  of  communal  in- 
terest. 

The  following  buildings  and  institutions 
should  therefore  be  considered  as  belonging 
essentially  to  the  civic  center:  i,  the  town 
hall  or  court  house;  2,  the  public  library; 

3,  the  high  school  or  main  school  building; 

4,  the  church  or  principal  churches ;  5,  other 
public   institutions   and   buildings,    as   the 
grange  hall. 

The  arrangement  which  is  given  these 
buildings  is  of  the  greatest  importance. 

92 


PAV£D 
PLAZA 


' 


CIVIC  CENTER,  BELLEFONTE,  PA. 


93 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

They  should,  first  of  all,  be  central,  a  fact 
that  should  be  sufficiently  obvious.  They 
should  be  placed  in  a  single  group,  reason- 
ably near  together,  and  not  separated  by 
private  buildings,  especially  those  of  no  con- 
sequence. Placing  the  buildings  close  to- 
gether in  this  manner  facilitates  the  transac- 
tion of  public  business;  and  what  is  much 
more  important,  it  gives  the  public  works  of 
the  town  a  much  more  effective  setting. 
The  buildings  are  massed  in  such  a  way  as 
to  make  a  proper  show  of  the  life  and  re- 
sources of  the  town.  They  contribute  more 
effectively  to  civic  pride  and  serve  as 
reasonable  advertisements  of  the  thrift  and 
resources  of  the  community.  Just  as  a  good 
farmer  takes  pride  in  a  big  and  imposing- 
looking  house,  so  the  whole  town  takes  pride 
in  the  imposing  array  of  beautiful,  appro- 
priate and  useful  public  buildings. 

Undoubtedly  the  best  arrangement  for 
such  a  series  of  buildings  is  to  be  found  in 
placing  them  about  the  central  public 
square.  In  many  New  England  villages 
these  buildings  naturally  gravitate  to  the 

94 


CIVIC  CENTERS 


DESIGN    FOR    A    SIMPLE    CIVIC    CENTER 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

town  common.  As  a  matter  of  tact,  the 
common  ought  to  represent  a  larger  area, 
while  the  public  square,  as  a  civic  center, 
should  have  an  entirely  different  character. 
The  meaning  and  design  of  the  town  com- 
mon are  more  fully  discussed  elsewhere.  In 
many  of  the  New  England  towns  referred 
to,  however,  the  so-called  town  common  is 
a  small  village  square  which  comprises  the 
civic  center,  which  we  now  have  under  con- 
sideration. While  this  arrangement  is  less 
frequent  in  western  towns  than  in  New  Eng- 
land, it  is  by  no  means  unknown.  I  recall 
the  fact  that  Lyons,  Kansas,  for  example, 
has  designed  a  central  block,  in  which  the 
court  house  is  located.  The  original  design 
for  McPherson,  Kansas,  provided  for  two 
blocks  on  the  west  side  of  the  town  for  pub- 
lic buildings  belonging  to  the  county,  and 
two  blocks  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  town 
for  public  buildings  belonging  to  the  city. 
While  the  arrangement  might  have  been 
improved  by  grouping  the  county  and  city 
buildings  together,  this,  nevertheless,  is  a 
recognition  of  the  correct  principle. 


97 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

In  many  small  towns  the  civic  center  has 
been  practically  made  by  placing  the  prin- 
cipal buildings  at,  or  near,  the  central  cross- 
roads or  four  corners.  If  the  center  of  the 
village  is  represented  by  such  a  crossroads, 
it  is  perfectly  natural,  and  therefore  to  a  cer- 
tain extent  good  design,  to  place  public 
buildings  there.  A  town  hall  may  stand  on 
one  corner,  and  if  the  grocery  store  occupies 
the  second  corner,  as  it  usually  does,  no 
great  violence  is  done  to  the  body  or  the 
spirit  of  the  civic  center.  If  a  clean  and  dig 
nified  public  hostelry  should  appropriate 
the  fourth  corner,  the  result  would  be 
almost  all  that  could  be  desired,  so  far  as 
the  collection  of  buildings  is  concerned. 

The  main  defect  in  this  arrangement  of 
public  buildings  on  the  central  four  corners 
is  that  the  buildings  themselves  do  not  show 
to  the  best  advantage.  Any  church,  town 
hall  or  school  building  can  be  seen  more 
effectively  if  placed  so  as  to  face  upon  an 
open  common,  or  if  placed  at  the  head  of 
an  open  street.  The  latter  arrangement,  of 


A  RyilAL  COlUIVmTY  CEHT11E 


A  SUGGESTION   FROM  CORNELL  UNIVERSITY 


99 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

course,  supplies  no  opportunity  for  the 
grouping  of  several  public  buildings. 

Finally,  the  public  buildings  may  be 
placed  along  both  sides  of  a  straight  or  curv- 
ing street.  This  is  the  least  satisfactory  ar- 
rangement of  all,  though,  of  course,  it  is 
better  than  having  the  buildings  scattered 
all  over  the  town.  At  any  rate,  it  brings 
them  into  close  proximity  and  secures  the 
advantage  of  administrative  efficiency.  It 
makes  public  business  easier,  though  it  does 
not  give  the  buildings  the  beauty  of  effect 
which  is  so  much  to  be  desired. 

In  the  most  rural  of  rural  communities 
there  are  still  civic  centers,  and  these  might 
greatly  develop.  I  well  remember  my  early 
days  on  the  sparsely  inhabited  plains  of 
Kansas,  and  I  can  vividly  recall  the  various 
social  activities  which  centered  at  the  dis- 
trict schoolhouse.  There  used  to  be  church 
and  Sunday-school  sessions  at  the  school- 
house  on  Sundays.  The  evenings  were  oc- 
cupied with  literary  societies,  debating 
clubs  and  revival  meetings.  If  there  were 
any  political  meetings  they  were  also  held 

100 


TOWN  HALL  FROM  THE  COMMON,  AMHERST,  MASS. 


CIVIC  CENTERS 

at  the  schoolhouse.  The  boys  used  to  meet 
there  sometimes  on  Saturday  afternoons  for 
a  match  game  of  ball  (and,  I  may  also 
say,  sometimes  on  Sunday  afternoons).  In 
fact,  every  kind  of  public  meeting  was  held 
at  the  schoolhouse.  This  seems  to  me  to 
represent  an  almost  perfect  social  organiza- 
tion and,  so  far  as  it  went,  a  perfect  social 
equipment. 

At  the  present  time  the  more  advanced 
country  districts  are  providing  a  more  elab- 
orate equipment  for  the  more  advanced  and 
enriched  society  life.  Neighborhood  cen- 
ters are  being  established  in  some  places. 
These,  of  course,  are  merely  civic  centers 
under  another  name.  They  usually  combine 
the  high  school  house  with  a  library  and 
playground  or  some  similar  equipment. 
This  idea  is  capable  of  very  large  extension 
in  all  progressive  communities  in  the  near 
future. 


101 


Most  of  the  wild  plant  wealth  of  the  East 
also  has  vanished — gone  into  dusty  history. 
Only  vestiges  of  its  glorious  prairie  and 
woodland  wealth  remain  to  bless  humanity 
in  boggy,  rocky,  unplowable  places.  For- 
tunately, some  of  these  are  purely  wild,  and 
go  far  to  keep  Nature's  love  visible.  White 
water  lilies,  with  rootstocks  deep  and  safe 
in  mud,  still  send  up  every  summer  a  Milk\ 
Way  of  starry,  fragrant  flowers  around  a 
thousand  lakes,  and  many  a  tuft  of  wild 
grass  waves  its  panicles  on  mossy  rocks,  be- 
yond reach  of  trampling  feet,  in  company 
with  saxifrages,  bluebells,  and  ferns.  Even 
in  the  midst  of  farmers'  fields,  precious 
sphagnum  bogs,  too  soft  for  the  feet  of  cat- 
tle, are  preserved  with  their  charming 
plants  unchanged — Chiogenes,  Andromeda} 
Kalmia,  Linncea,  Arethusa,  etc.  Calypso 
borealis  still  hides  in  the  arbor  vitce  swamps 
of  Canada,  and  away  to  the  southward  there 
are  a  few  unspoiled  swamps,  big  ones,  where 
miasma,  snakes,  and  alligators,  like  guar- 
dian angels,  defend  their  treasures  and  keep 
them  as  pure  as  paradise.  And  beside  a'  that 
and  a  that,  the  East  is  blessed  with  good 
winters  and  blossoming  clouds  that  shed 
white  flowers  over  all  the  land,  covering 
every  scar  and  making  the  saddest  landscape 
divine  at  least  once  a  year. 

JOHNT  MUIR, 
"Our  National  Parks." 
IO2 


CHAPTER  VI 

PUBLIC  GROUNDS 

THE  development  of  public  parks,  play- 
grounds and  boulevards  and  their  or- 
ganization into  efficient  park  systems  has 
come  to  be  recognized  as  an  important  part 
of  city  improvement.  The  improvement 
of  a  rural  community  requires  similar  lines 
of  development.  This  has  generally  not 
been  recognized.  It  has  been  a  common 
assumption  that  the  country  needs  no  parks, 
and  that  its  boulevard  system  is  sufficiently 
represented  by  a  neglected  network  of  coun- 
try roads. 

The  following  types  of  public  grounds  or 
reservations  are  to  be  considered  in  a  general 
scheme  of  rural  betterment:  (a)  National 
parks,  (b)  state  parks,  (c)  local  scenery 
reservations  and  roads,  (d)  school  grounds, 
(e)  cemeteries  and  church  grounds,  (f) 
town  commons,  (g)  playgrounds.  Let  us 

103 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

look  at  each  of  these  questions  to  see  what  is 
the  nature  of  the  problem. 

The  national  parks  are  destined  to  play 
a  very  important  role  in  the  future  develop- 
ment of  America.  If  we  look  at  civic  art 
from  the  national  standpoint,  they  are  of 
prime  importance.  These  national  parks 
should  be  established  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  their  location  being  determined 
primarily  by  the  desire  to  preserve  spots  of 
national  historic  importance,  or  with  the 
intention  of  preserving  typical  examples  of 
natural  scenery  or  special  more  or  less  spec- 
tacular features  of  national  importance. 
The  Yellowstone  Park  in  Wyoming  is  a  fine 
exemplification  of  this  idea.  Niagara  Falls 
and  its  environs  ought  to  become  a 
great  national  (really  international)  park> 
and  this  again  illustrates  the  idea  distinctly. 
The  battleground  reservations  at  Gettys- 
burg and  Lookout  Mountain  give  examples 
of  areas  reserved  on  account  of  their  his- 
toric interest.  Should  we  secure  an  ade- 
quate park  reservation  in  the  White  Moun- 
tains or  in  the  Adirondacks  under  federal 

104 


A  PLEASANT  PUBLIC  PLAYGROUND  ON  A  LAKE  SHORE 


PUBLIC  GROUNDS 

control,  this  would  be  an  example  of  a  park 
in  which  would  be  preserved  fine  types  of 
natural  scenery.  However,  we  ought  to 
present  in  the  same  way  the  equally  beauti- 
ful scenery  of  the  sea  coast  dunes,  of  the 
great  interior  prairies  and  of  the  arid  des- 
erts. All  these  scenery  types  are  beautiful, 
valuable  and  highly  important.  They  can- 
not be  permanently  kept  for  succeeding  gen- 
erations in  America  unless  they  are  appro- 
priated by  the  national  government  and  ad- 
ministered in  behalf  of  the  whole  people. 
The  time  should  never  come  when  the  peo- 
ple of  the  United  States  cannot  have  access 
to  the  great  and  beautiful  landscapes  which 
make  America  what  it  is  today. 

Other  and  similar  reservations,  however, 
are  needed  under  state  control.  There  are 
many  spots  of  natural  beauty,  many  types  of 
fine  native  scenery,  many  places  of  historic 
interest  in  every  state,  which  are  especially 
valuable  to  the  state  itself.  Though  these 
should  all  be  preserved,  they  may  not  be  of 
such  national  importance  as  to  justify  the 
federal  government  in  patronizing  them. 

105 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

Several  of  the  states  are  now  definitely  en- 
tered upon  this  program  of  developing  state 
parks.  The  work  has  usually  been  begun  on 
quite  the  proper  theory,  as  we  have  stated  it 
here. 


RIVER    BANK    RESERVED    FOR    PUBLIC    RECREATION 

Besides  this,  however,  even  the  local  com- 
munity has  similar  opportunities.  The 
smallest  and  poorest  town  has  also  its  spots 
of  historic  interest,  its  types  of  beautiful 
scenery,  its  picnic  grounds,  its  lakes  and 

106 


PUBLIC  GROUNDS 

hills,  which  should  not  be  allowed  to  pass 
into  private  control.  Rather  should  they  be 
acquired  by  the  public  and  kept  open  to  all 
the  citizens  of  the  town.  This  is  a  matter 
of  great  consequence  which  is  being  widely 
neglected.  There  is  hardly  a  town  in  the 
country,  in  fact,  where  the  people  have 
taken  reasonable  precautions  to  own  their 
own  lakes  or  even  to  have  access  to  them.  I 
recently  visited  a  country  town  where  they 
boasted  of  a  beautiful  lake  covering  100 
acres.  They  were  very  proud  of  it.  They 
used  it  for  boating  parties,  for  fishing,  for 
skating  and  the  boys  went  swimming  there. 
On  investigation,  it  proved  that  the  town  did 
not  own  a  single  foot  of  the  shore,  and  that 
aside  from  a  few  private  owners,  nobody 
could  reach  the  lake  legally  except  to  fall 
into  it  out  of  a  balloon.  All  the  boys  who 
went  swimming  or  fishing,  all  the  boating 
parties,  and  all  the  skating  parties,  used  the 
lake  only  by  trespassing  on  private  land. 
These  private  owners  were  constantly  mak- 
ing new  restrictions,  so  that,  without  some 
action,  in  the  near  future  the  lake  would 

107 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

become  practically  useless  to  the  com- 
munity. At  the  present  time  it  would  be 
easy  for  this  town  to  acquire  the  title  to  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  lake  shore  at  a 
very  moderate  expense,  and  such  a  course 
is  altogether  wise.  Indeed  no  other  course 
is  excusable. 

This  actual  example  is  only  one  of  thou- 
sands which  might  be  given  showing  what 
the  important  and  very  urgent  need  is 
in  most  country  places.  During  the  last  few 
years  I  have  visited  more  than  a  hundred 
rural  communities,  and  have  examined  the 
situation  in  detail  with  reference  to  the 
general  questions  of  civic  betterment,  and  I 
have  found  this  particular  problem  with 
this  particular  opportunity  most  frequently 
present,  and  most  conspicuously  neglected. 

The  items  most  communities  need  to  look 
after  in  this  way  are:  (a)  Ponds  and  lakes, 
which  ought  either  to  be  owned  in  toto,  or 
should  be  accessible  through  the  ownership 
of  shore  properties;  (b)  river  shores,  (c) 
mountain  tops  or  hills  commanding  espe- 
cially good  scenery,  (d)  small  streams, 

1 08 


WOODLAND    USED    FOR    PUBLIC    RECREATION— A    MUNICIPAL 
FOREST  IN  GERMANY 


PUBLIC  GROUNDS 

brooks  and  water  falls,  (e)  rocky  glens, 
caves,  etc. 

Very  often  special  pieces  of  scenery  can 
best  be  opened  up  and  made  available  by 
establishing  scenic  drives  or  roadways.  This 
will  be  particularly  the  case  along  river 
banks  and  lake  shores.  It  is  by  no  means 
necessary  that  such  a  scenic  roadway  should 
lead  to  any  particular  point.  In  fact,  it  is 
better  not  to  have  it  so.  If  the  roadway  is 
a  convenient  highway  for  traffic  it  will  soon 
be  taken  up  with  heavy  hauling,  or  infested 
with  automobiles.  If  it  is  inconvenient  for 
such  traffic  it  will  be  left  as  it  should  be  to 
the  pleasure  seekers.  It  will  be  a  comforta- 
ble drive  for  Sunday  afternoon.  It  will  be  a 
resource  of  pleasure  and  beauty  in  the  town, 
and  this  is  precisely  what  progressive  towns 
ought  to  provide  for. 

All  the  school  grounds  in  the  country 
need  attention.  There  has  never  been  re- 
ported a  case  of  one  which  was  too  highly 
improved.  Everywhere  school  grounds 
need  to  be  cleaned  up  and  made  more 
orderly.  This  is  the  most  fundamental  and 

109 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

the  most  far-reaching  and  the  most  impor- 
tant improvement  which  can  be  suggested  in 
this  field.  As  a  rule  school  grounds  ought 
to  be  larger  everywhere,  and  this  statement 
applies  most  emphatically  to  country  school 
grounds.  It  is  a  matter  of  sorrow  that  in 
the  country,  where  land  is  cheap>  school 
grounds  should  be  pinched  in  size  and  the 
pupils  crowded  into  the  public  streets. 

Many  progressive  communities  through- 
out the  country  have  taken  steps  to  correct 
this  evil.  Country  schools  are  being  pro- 
vided with  commodious  grounds.  On  these 
grounds  are  being  developed  some  of  the 
enterprises  which  should  center  around  a 
school.  There  are  school  gardens,  some- 
times fruit  trees,  sometimes  experimental 
grounds,  sometimes  adequate  playgrounds. 
Occasionally  at  such  points  there  are  de- 
veloped rural  civic  centers.  A  rural  civic 
center  should  include  a  public  meeting  hall, 
which  may  or  may  not  be  separate  from  the 
school  building;  it  should  include  a  local 
library,  if  the  community  is  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  such  an  institution;  it  may  very 

no 


PUBLIC  GROUNDS 

properly  include  a  grange  hall;  and  the 
rural  church  should  meet  on  this  ground 
with  the  other  institutions  of  the  rural  com- 
munity. In  this  physical  co-operation  they 
can  begin  a  larger  organization  of  harmoni- 
ous association  which  will  help  them 
develop  the  community  as  it  ought  to  be 
developed. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  ornamenta- 
tion of  school  grounds,  about  how  to  lay  off 
walks,  where  to  plant  shrubbery,  how  to 
grow  flower  beds,  and  other  things  of  like 
character.  All  this  is  good  work  and  well 
worth  doing,  but  it  will  follow  as  a  matter 
of  course  when  the  whole  scheme  is  rightly 
organized.  It  represents  a  detail  and  not 
the  main  principle.  As  a  rule,  rural  im- 
provement begins  at  the  wrong  end,  when 
the  first  undertaking  is  to  plant  a  flower  bed 
on  the  school  grounds. 

Cemeteries  everywhere  are  notoriously 
neglected.  This  is  especially  so  in  rural 
districts.  It  is  by  no  means  uncommon  in 
older  sections  of  the  country  to  come  upon 
a  forgotten  cemetery,  overgrown  with 

in 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

bushes  and  trees.  Even  in  the  new  prairie 
states  there  are  thousands  of  cemeteries 
given  up  to  sunflowers  and  ragweeds.  A 
progressive  and  self-respecting  community 
would  hardly  allow  such  conditions  to  exist; 
and  when  the  local  improvement  society 
lays  out  its  program  of  work,  cemetery  im- 
provement will  be  naturally  one  of  the  earli- 
est undertakings.  The  thing  to  be  done  is 
sufficiently  plain  and  simple.  The  grounds 
are  to  be  cleaned  up  and  put  in  good  order. 
Weeds  and  brush  are  to  be  removed,  and  in 
their  places  grass  and  trees  are  to  be  en- 
couraged. Head  stones  are  to  be  straight- 
ened up,  walks  to  be  marked  out  and  a  gen- 
eral condition  of  order  and  cleanliness  sub- 
stituted for  the  present  state  of  disorder  and 
slovenliness. 

In  olden  times  cemeteries  existed  as  a  part 
of  the  church  grounds,  and  such  an  arrange- 
ment is  still  to  be  found  in  some  places.  In 
other  places  church  grounds  exist  sepa- 
rately. Plainly  that  tract  of  land  belonging 
to  the  church  should  be  kept  in  repair.  Two 
old  sayings  may  be  borne  in  mind:  "Order 

112 


PUBLIC  GROUNDS 

is  heaven's  first  law"  and  "Cleanliness  is 
next  to  godliness."  Let  order  and  cleanli- 
ness prevail  and  the  church  has,  in  its  physi- 
cal aspect,  opened  the  way  to  its  higher 
work. 

The  finest  feature  in  many  a  New  Eng- 
land town  is  the  town  common.  It  is  strange 
that  so  fine  an  element  in  town  planning 
should  not  have  been  kept  up  more  carefully 
in  the  more  ambitious,  though  less  attractive 
towns,  founded  farther  west  by  the  emi- 
grants from  New  England.  Every  town 
which  possesses  a  central  common  has  an 
asset  of  priceless  value.  It  is  one  which 
should  be  guarded  at  every  point  and  at  all 
costs.  Nothing  should  be  allowed  to  en- 
croach upon  it  under  any  circumstances. 
Public-spirited  citizens  should  strenuously 
resist  every  effort  to  place  public  buildings 
upon  it,  and  even  the  habit  of  placing  a 
memorial  monument,  band  stands,  fountains 
and  other  alleged  ornaments  on  the  town 
common  should  be  strictly  discountenanced. 
Such  property  should  be  kept  strictly  open 
except  for  its  shade  trees.  Even  flower 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


beds  are  a  doubtful  improvement  in  most 
instances. 

Those  towns  which  do  not  have  central 
parks  or  commons  should  let  pass  no  oppor- 


AN   OLD   SUGAR   BUSH   ADMIRABLY   SUITED   TO   BE   A   RURAL 
PICNIC  GROUND 

tunity  for  creating  them.  Sometimes  a  wise 
plan,  undertaken  with  sufficient  forethought 
and  followed  out  with  sufficient  patience, 
will  secure  a  piece  of  property  which  will 
serve  this  purpose. 

114 


PUBLIC  GROUNDS 

Whether  the  local  community  has  or  is 
able  to  secure  a  central  common,  or  not,  it 
will  be  found  good  sound  public  policy  to 
hold  the  ownership  of  other  outlying  tracts, 
especially  picnic  grounds,  or  pieces  of 
property  which  the  community  is  likely  to 
need  for  the  common  use  of  its  citizens. 
This  is  hardly  the  place  to  introduce  the  dis- 
cussion of  public  ownership  of  profit-earn- 
ing properties;  but  it  may  be  pointed  out 
that  many  communities  in  various  parts  of 
the  world  have  had  very  happy  experiences 
in  the  ownership  and  operation  of  such 
lands.  A  considerable  number  of  Swiss  and 
German  towns  own  public  forests,  and 
while  these  add  enormously  to  the  beauty 
and  attractiveness  of  these  several  localities, 
they  return  at  the  same  time  substantial  rev- 
enues. There  are  a  number  of  towns  and 
cities  in  Germany  and  Switzerland  where 
the  entire  expenses  of  government  are  borne 
by  these  public  forests. 

One  of  the  most  common  deficiencies  in 
the  country  communities  is  the  lack  of  play- 
grounds. There  is  no  place  in  America 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

where  boys  do  not  play  ball,  and  yet  there  is 
hardly  one  town  in  a  thousand  where  any 
public  provision  is  made  for  this  and  similar 
games.  The  consequence  is  that  the  boys 
play  in  the  streets  or  upon  private  property. 
Playing  in  the  streets  is  dangerous  to  the 
players  and  to  the  public,  and  playing  upon 
private  property  is  trespass.  Boys  who  play 
ball  in  the  street  or  who  trespass  upon 
private  property  for  this  purpose  have  taken 
the  first  long  step  toward  robbing  the  neigh- 
boring orchards.  From  robbing  orchards 
they  easily  pass  to  more  ambitious  depreda- 
tions and  so  on  to  downright  felony  or  plain 
political  graft.  There  is,  in  fact,  no  reason- 
able excuse  of  any  sort  which  can  be  given 
by  any  village  or  rural  community  for  not 
owning  a  public  ball  ground.  Provision 
should  be  made  for  other  sports  besides 
baseball.  One  reason  why  country  life  in 
the  past  has  been  less  attractive  than  city 
life  is  just  this,  that  no  attention  has  been 
paid  to  such  legitimate  sports.  If  some 
pains  could  be  taken  to  promote  baseball, 
football,  hockey,  basket  ball  and  all  similar 

116 


PUBLIC  GROUNDS 


recreations  in  country  neighborhoods,  it 
would  go  a  long  way  toward  solving  more 
important  economic  and  social  problems. 


"7 


The  seuerall  situations  of  mens  dwellings, 
are  for  the  most  part  vnauoideable  and  vnre- 
moueable;  for  most  men  cannot  appoint 
forth  such  a  manner  of  situation  for  their 
dwelling,  as  Is  most  fit  to  auoide  all  the  In- 
conuenlences  of  wlnde  and  weather,  but 
must  bee  content  with  such  as  the  place  will 
afford  them;  yet  all  men  doe  well  know,  that 
some  situations  are  more  excellent  than  oth- 
ers: according  therfore  to  the  seuerall  situa- 
tion of  mens  dwellings,  so  are  the  situations 
of  their  gardens  also  for  the  most  part.  And 
although  diners  doe  diuersly  preferre  their 
owne  seuerall  places  which  they  hane 
chosen,  or  wherein  they  dwell;  As  some 
those  places  that  are  neare  vnto  a  rluer  or 
brooke  to  be  best  for  the  pleasantnesse  of  the 
water,  the  ease  of  transportation  of  them- 
selues,  their  friends  and  goods,  as  also  for 
the  fertility  of  the  soyle,  which  is  s  el  dome 
bad  neare  vnto  a  riuers  side;  And  others  ex- 
toll  the  side  or  top  of  an  hill,  bee  It  small  or 
great,  for  the  prospects  sake;  and  aqaine, 
some  the  plalne  or  champlan  ground,  for 
the  euen  leuell  thereof :  euery  one  of  which, 
as  they  haue  their  commodities  accompany- 

118 


ing  them,  so  haue  they  also  their  discom- 
modities belonging  vnto  them,  according  to 
the  Latine  Prouerbe,  Omne  commodum  fert 
suum  tncommodum. 

JOHN  PARKISON, 
"Paradisi  in  Sole  Paradisus  Terrestris." 


Old  New  England  villages  and  small 
towns  and  well-kept  'New  England  farms 
had  universally  a  simple  and  pleasing  form 
of  garden  called  the  front  yard  or  front 
dooryard.  .  .  .  This  front  yard  was  an 
English  fashion  derived  from  the  forecourt 
so  strongly  advised  by  Gervayse  Markham, 
and  found  in  front  of  many  a  yeoman's 
house.  .  .  .  The  front  yard  was  sacred 
to  the  best  beloved  garden  flowers  and  was 
preserved  by  fences  from  the  inroads  of 
cattle. 

MRS.  ALICE  MORSE  EARLE, 

"Old  Time  Gardens." 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  VILLAGE  HOME  GARDEN 

THE  treatment  of  the  home  grounds  has 
ever  been  the  most  popular  problem  in 
American  landscape  gardening.  How  to 
lay  off  the  home  grounds  has  been  the  theme 
and  sometimes  the  title  of  a  clear  majority 
of  all  American  books  on  landscape  archi- 
tecture. Advice  is  asked  more  frequently 
on  these  matters  than  on  the  big  problems 
of  city  design,  park  administration,  state 
reservations  and  other  great  works  which 
landscape  architects  themselves  prefer  to 
undertake. 

The  importance  of  these  problems  of 
home  grounds  improvement  cannot  be  over- 
looked. This  is  one  of  the  largest  factors 
in  general  civic  betterment.  When  the 
proud  citizen  is  visited  by  his  cousin  or  his 
long-lost  sister  from  Arkansas  or  Montana, 
his  greatest  delight  is  to  show  off  his  home 

1 20 


THE  VILLAGE  HOME  GARDEN 

town.  This  he  does  driving  up  and  down 
the  best  streets  and  pointing  out  the  most 
attractive  places.  "There  is  where  Colonel 
Jones  lives,"  says  the  proud  citizen.  "There 
is  where  Mr.  Brown,  our  member  of  the 


HOME  AND  GARDEN   FROM  THE  STREET— AN  INVITING  GLIMPSE 

legislature,  lives."  "There  is  where  Mary 
Muggins  lives,  who  wrote  the  famous 
novel."  Thus  does  every  citizen  praise  his 
own  town  by  pointing  out  the  most  attrac- 
tive homes,  and  thus  does  every  private 
place  become  public  property.  We  all  own 

121 


an  important  share  in  it.  Its  good  looks  are 
the  pride  of  the  town.  Its  shabbiness  and 
neglect  are  a  public  shame.  A  vigorous 
campaign  should  be  undertaken  to  clean  and 
beautify  all  private  grounds  for  the  public 
benefit. 

The  American  taste  for  developing 
private  grounds  is  unique.  Nowhere  else 
in  the  world  are  the  same  principles  fol- 
lowed. In  the  old  country  the  theory  is  that 
a  man's  home  grounds  are  his  private  pos- 
session, to  be  kept  as  secluded  as  possible. 
In  this  country  the  theory  is  that  every  house 
lot  is  a  public  possession,  to  be  shown  off  to 
the  best  advantage.  Americans  always 
speak  of  the  development  of  the  front  yard, 
sometimes  allowing  the  back  yard  to  be 
nothing  but  a  rubbish  dump.  Doubtless 
there  is  some  good  in  both  theories.  We 
have  already  spoken  of  the  public  owner- 
ship and  enjoyment  of  private  grounds;  and 
the  wish  of  every  American  citizen  to  make 
his  premises  look  pleasing  from  the  street 
is  sound  and  wholesome.  At  the  same  time 
a  man's  private  garden  should  be  his  per- 

122 


THE  VILLAGE  HOME  GARDEN 

sonal  possession  to  some  extent.  This  senti- 
ment, moreover,  is  gaining  ground  in  this 
country.  There  are  more  people  who  want 
to  live  out-of-doors,  who  want  an  opportu- 


VILLAGE  HOUSE  AND  FRONT  YARD 

nity  to  play  with  their  own  children  or  eat 
supper  with  the  family  in  the  garden,  out- 
of-doors  and  yet  with  privacy. 

Now,  the  way  in  which  this  division  is 
made  largely  determines  the  treatment  of 

123 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

the  whole  garden.  The  American  plan  re- 
quires the  development  of  a  large  front 
yard.  The  English  and  German  plan 
requires  an  inclosed  rear  yard  which  is  de- 
veloped to  be  a  real  garden.  The  American 
plan  requires  the  house  set  fairly  well  back 
from  the  street;  the  European  plan  requires 
the  house  set  close  to  the  street.  On  grounds 
of  moderate  size,  or  larger,  it  is  possible  to 
accomplish  both  things.  There  may  be  an 
attractive  front  yard,  published  to  the  atten- 
tion of  the  world,  and  then  a  private  garden 
separated  from  this  by  a  hedge  or  screen, 
forming  a  sequestered  range  for  the  family. 
Aside  from  this  question  of  privacy  versus 
publicity,  the  design  of  the  grounds  should 
be  determined  first  in  relation  to  the  main 
factors.  If  there  is  to  be  a  vegetable  garden, 
it  should  be  given  its  separate  and  suitable 
area.  If  there  is  to  be  a  dwarf  fruit  garden, 
the  proper  space  should  be  appropriated.  If 
there  are  to  be  fruit  trees  they  should  be 
given  room.  If  there  are  to  be  a  chicken 
yard  and  paddock  for  the  horse  or  a  garage, 
the  necessary  space  should  be  definitely  set 

124 


THE  VILLAGE  HOME  GARDEN 

aside.  If  members  of  the  family  are  fond 
of  growing  flowers,  it  will  be  much  better 
to  provide  a  definite  cultivated  area  for 
them,  presumably  at  the  rear  of  the  grounds, 
rather  than  to  mix  the  flower-growing  ex- 
periments with  the  orchard  growing  or  the 
front  yard.  If  there  are  croquet  grounds, 
tennis  courts  or  similar  equipments  for 
family  recreation,  they  should  be  properly 
located  before  the  remaining  details  of  the 
design  are  planned.  It  is  a  very  sad  and  a 
very  common  mistake  to  leave  such  ques- 
tions as  these  until  the  grounds  have  been 
planted.  After  everything  is  done  then 
someone  suddenly  brings  in  the  demand  for 
a  tennis  court,  which  has  to  be  laid  off  in  an 
unsuitable  space,  seriously  infringing  on 
lawns  and  flower  beds  already  established. 
After  the  main  feature  of  the  grounds 
like  those  enumerated  have  been  definitely 
settled,  the  ornamental  design  proper  may 
be  taken  up  with  reasonable  hope  of  a  fair 
issue.  This  problem,  however,  is  not  one  of 
ornamentation.  It  is,  instead,  primarily  a 
question  of  order  versus  disorder.  The  most 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

orderly  place  is  the  one  that  is  best  designed. 
This  is  why  the  simple  and  intelligible 
order  of  the  formal  garden  is  so  likely  to 
please. 

Now,  the  first  principle,  and  the  most  im- 
portant one,  in  garden  design  is  simplicity. 


MASSES  OF  LILACS  AND  WILLOWS  ADORNING  AN   OLD   HOUSE 

Simplicity  is  the  queen  of  garden  virtues. 
The  prominence  of  this  virtue  is  peculiarly 
visible  in  dealing  with  home  grounds.  Un- 
fortunately, simplicity  is  one  of  the  rarest 
accomplishments  everywhere,  and  more 

126 


THE  VILLAGE   HOME  GARDEN 

rare  in  gardening  than  in  ordinary  life  gen- 
erally. 

There  are  a  few  recurring  features  in 
home  grounds  design  which  must  every- 
where be  guarded  against.  The  first  of  these 
is  making  collections  of  plants.  All  sorts 
of  strange  things  are  bought  from  the  florist, 
from  the  tree  agent,  from  the  catalog  and 
even  from  the  department  stores,  and  are 
jumbled  together  all  over  the  front  yard. 
Many  of  these  things  are  unsuitable  to  the 
place.  They  are  usually  inharmonious,  they 
disagree  with  one  another  and  with  the 
house,  and  the  grounds  are  merely  cluttered 
up  with  horticultural  rubbish.  The  results 
are  exactly  the  same  as  occur  in  house  fur- 
nishing when  the  mistress  gets  the  fad  for 
collecting  furniture  and  bric-a-brac. 

The  results  are  especially  bad  when  the 
horticultural  collector  has  a  taste  for  freaks. 
Then  he  buys  Camperdown  elms,  cemetery 
birches,  variegated  weigelias,  yellow-leaved 
poplars,  red-leaved  Prunus  Pissardi.  Crip- 
pled and  weeping  specimens  are  particu- 
larly recherche  and  particularly  vulgar. 

127 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

Along  with  these  horticultural  freaks  one 
commonly  finds  such  curiosities  as  leaky 
boats  sailing  across  the  lawn,  full-freighted 
with  brilliant  nasturtiums,  disused  camp 
kettles  on  rustic  tripods  and  boiling  over 
with  red  geraniums,  leaky  boilers  elevated 


COMBINATION   OF  STREET   PLANTING   AND    HOME  ADORNMENT 

on  gas  pipes  doing  service  as  garden  boxes, 
whitewashed  rockeries  and  beautiful  flower 
beds  edged  with  inverted  soda-pop  bottles. 
It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  condemn  such 
things,  but  the  frequency  with  which  they 
occur  shows  that  the  improvement  cam- 
paign has  something  to  meet  in  this  respect. 

128 


THE  VILLAGE  HOME  GARDEN 

A  fair  question  to  be  raised  in  garden 
design  for  home  grounds  is  whether  a  for- 
mal or  a  natural  style  should  be  preferred. 
Each  style  has  its  devotees  and  its  advan- 
tages. It  is  foolish  to  condemn  either  style. 
As  a  rule,  however,  the  former  style  should 
not  be  presented  in  the  front  yard.  It  should 
be  used  in  an  inclosed  garden,  which  means 
the  private  garden  of  the  rear  premises.  In 
small  inclosed  yards  the  formal  method  of 
treatment  is  the  easiest  and  apt  to  be  the  most 
effective  from  the  standpoint  of  design. 

When  the  grounds,  or  any  part  of  them, 
are  to  be  developed  in  the  natural  style  the 
main  requirement  is  to  have  plain  and  open 
lawn.  Special  effort  should  be  made  to 
secure  spacious  areas  of  good  grass  growing 
on  nicely  graded  land.  The  land  should 
either  be  practically  level  or  should  show 
the  most  pleasing  curves  possible.  Very 
few  people  appreciate  how  much  beauty 
can  be  secured  in  the  contours  of  the  land 
itself. 

In  order  to  secure  such  spacious  and  open 
lawns,  the  plantings  should  be  pushed  back 

129 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

to  the  margins.  It  is  an  almost  fixed  rule 
that  planting  in  the  natural  style  the  trees, 
shrubs  and  flowers  should  be  placed  in 
masses  along  the  outer  margins.  These  mar- 
gins should  be  irregular,  retreating  here,  ad- 
vancing there,  giving  heavy  masses  alternat- 
ing with  light  feathery  screens,  letting  in 
the  sunlight  in  one  part,  throwing  heavy 
shadows  in  another.  Great  skill  can  be  used 
in  developing  such  setting  to  the  very  high- 
est effectiveness;  yet  an  amateur  will  hardly 
make  serious  mistakes  if  some  thought  and 
patience  are  given  to  the  work. 

Having  disposed  of  the  general  design, 
we  may  now  consider  the  planting.  The 
first  caution  is  not  to  overplant.  Still,  many 
persons  make  the  mistake  of  planting  too 
meagerly.  The  rule  of  professional  land- 
scape gardeners  is  a  good  one.  It  is  "Plant 
thick,  thin  quick."  This  is  poor  grammar 
but  good  horticulture.  If  the  young  shrubs 
and  trees  are  set  close  together  they  help  one 
another.  The  moment  they  begin  to  grow, 
however,  the  poorest  ones  must  be  thinned 
out  to  make  room  for  those  which  are  to  re- 

130 


SPRING  TIME  IN  THE  PRIVACY  OF  THE  HOME  GARDEN 


THE  VILLAGE   HOME  GARDEN 

main  permanently.  This  method  of  devel- 
oping grounds  has  an  additional  advantage 
in  that  it  gives  complete  effects  from  the  first 
year  of  planting. 

The  next  point  to  be  observed  is  to  use 
hardy  stuff.  Plants  which  will  not  with- 
stand the  climate  in  which  they  are  placed 
may  be  very  rare  and  curious,  but  it  is  bad 
policy  to  use  them.  The  superior  value  of 
thoroughly  hardy  plants  is  fully  recognized 
in  America  at  the  present  time. 

This  desire  for  hardy  materials  has  led  to 
the  addition  of  another  rule;  namely,  that 
we  should  always  use  native  stuff.  Where 
specifically  naturalistic  effects  are  aimed  at, 
especially  where  the  backgrounds  of  the 
landscape  are  brought  into  the  design,  the 
use  of  strictly  natural  stuff  is  wholly  to  be 
justified.  On  the  other  hand,  in  small  home 
gardens  there  is  seldom  reason  in  employing 
such  an  arbitrary  rule.  There  are  many 
splendid  plants  from  Europe  and  Asia 
which  are  hardy  and  should  be  freely  used. 
What  could  we  do,  for  instance,  without 
Japanese  barberries  and  European  lilacs? 


When  thoroughly  hardy  plants  are 
chosen  for  a  garden  we  are  apt  to  give  a 
preponderating  allowance  of  shrubs  and 
perennial  herbs.  Now  hardy  shrubs  and 
perennials  are  desirable  for  still  other  rea- 
sons; and  so  we  have  developed  a  sort  of 
general  preference  for  this  class  of  materi- 
als. They  should  usually  be  the  principal 
reliance  in  garden  making. 

A  person  who  makes  a  garden  should  ex- 
pect to  plant  something  every  year.  The 
idea  of  making  a  garden  now  and  keeping 
it  without  alteration  forever  is  founded  on  a 
series  of  misapprehensions.  The  planting  of 
new  things  every  spring  is  a  large  part  of 
the  enjoyment  of  a  garden.  Furthermore, 
there  are  improvements  to  be  made  even  in 
the  best  planted  gardens. 

Every  garden  needs  care.  No  matter 
how  perfectly  it  is  made  it  needs  constant 
looking  after.  Weeds  have  to  be  kept  out, 
trees  and  shrubs  pruned  and  lawns  mowed. 
A  great  part  of  the  attractiveness  of  every 
garden  is  secured  at  this  very  point.  A  well- 
kept  garden  is  a  good  one,  even  if  the  design 

132 


THE  APPLE  TREE  IS  UNSURPASSED  FOR  ORNAMENTAL  PLANTING 


be  poor;  a  neglected  garden  is  a  bad  one,  no 
matter  if  it  were  laid  off  by  the  best  land- 
scape architect  living.  A  large  part  of  the 
garden  work  is  merely  maintenance. 

How  are  these  things  to  be  promoted  in 
a  civic  betterment  campaign?  Perhaps  the 
simplest  and  the  best  method  is  to  arouse 
enthusiasm  and  distribute  knowledge 
through  the  schools.  If  school  teachers  are 
proficient  in  these  lines,  if  they  develop 
school  gardens  and  if  they  do  still  better  by 
developing  home  garden  movements,  then 
a  community  is  in  the  possession  of  a  work- 
ing force  capable  of  great  good. 

Wherever  an  active  village  improvement 
society  exists  such  a  society  ought  to  under- 
take, as  a  part  of  its  work,  to  promote  good 
taste  and  enthusiasm  in  the  development  of 
home  grounds.  This  can  be  done  by  bring- 
ing into  the  community  good  lecturers  on 
such  subjects  and  by  placing  in  the  local 
library  suitable  books.  A  village  improve- 
ment society  can  also  take  up  any  of  the 
work  of  the  regular  horticultural  society 
like  that  mentioned  below.  Where  a 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

woman's  club  acts  as  the  agent  of  the  com- 
munity betterment  it  can  do  the  same  work. 
In  some  parts  of  the  country,  notably  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario,  Canada,  there  are 
many  local  horticultural  societies.  These 
societies  hold  stated  and  special  meetings, 
at  which  all  questions  of  gardening,  tree 
planting,  flower  growing  and  such  improve- 
ments are  discussed.  Such  societies  also 
hold  flower  shows,  fruit  shows,  and  special 
fairs.  They  also  organize  gardening  con- 
tests, which  are  particularly  helpful  in  pro- 
moting village  improvement  along  these 
lines.  In  such  garden  contests  the  various 
home  grounds  are  visited  by  committees  of 
experts,  who  make  suggestions,  give  instruc- 
tions and  point  out  the  best  results.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  all  these  methods  of  arousing 
enthusiasm  and  organizing  and  attracting 
interest  in  the  home  grounds  are  capable  of 
easy  application  and  the  results  are  likely  to 
be  altogether  good.  The  only  absolutely 
essential  thing  is  the  leadership  of  a  few 
sensible  men  or  women. 


J34 


Les  conditions  d'un  ordre  plus  speciale- 
ment  material  qui  doivent  etre  considerees 
dans  le  choix  d'une  residence  rurale, — soit 
dans  son  ensemble,  c'est-a-dire  avec  une  ex- 
ploitation agricole  ou  forestiere,  soit  au 
point  de  vue  plus  restrient  du  pare  ou  du 
jardin,  sont  principalement  les  suivantes: 
( l)  le  paysage  environnant,  (2)  I'  altitude 
et  la  facilite  d'  acces,  (j)  le  climat  et  I' 
orientation,  (4)  la  forme  et  la  nature  du  sol, 
(5)  les  abris,  les  arbres,  et  les  vues,  (6)  les 
eaux,  (j}  les  constructions,  (8)  les  orna- 
ments pittoresques,  (Q)  les  ressources  finan- 
cieres. 

ED.  ANDRK. 
"L'  Art  des  Jardms." 


'35 


Men  do  usually  covet  great  quantities  of 
Land;  yet  cannot  mannage  a  little  'well. 
There  'were  amongst  the  Auncient  Romans 
some  appointed  to  see  that  men  did  till  their 
Lands  as  they  should  do,  and  if  they  did  not, 
to  punish  them  as  Enemies  to  the  Publique ; 
perhaps  such  a  law  might  not  be  amisse  with 
us,  for  without  question  the  Publique  suf- 
fereth  much,  by  private  mens  negligence;  I 
therefore  wish  men  to  take  Columell's 
Councell;  which  is,  Laudato  ingentia  Rura, 
Exiguum  Colito.  For  melior  est  culta  exi- 
guitas  etc.  as  another  saith,  or  as  we  say  in 
English,  A  little  Farme  well  tilled,  is  to  be 
preferred. 

SAMUEL  HARTLIR'S 

"Legacie." 


136 


CHAPTER  VIII 
FARM  PLANNING 

IN  any  scheme  of  rural  improvement 
great  emphasis  must  be  placed  on  the  de- 
velopment of  individual  farms.  If  each 
farm  is  clean,  tidy,  well  kept,  with  a  thrifty 
and  home-like  air,  then  the  whole  neighbor- 
hood will  be  attractive  to  visitors  and  satis- 
fying to  residents.  To  say  of  any  valley  that 
it  is  a  district  of  fertile  and  well-kept  farms 
is  to  picture  it  before  the  human  imagina- 
tion in  the  most  engaging  language  possi- 
ble. Those  railway  companies  and  state 
boards  of  agriculture  which  have  given 
prizes  for  the  best  kept  farms  in  certain  dis- 
tricts have  been  promoting  a  very  practical 
form  of  rural  progress. 

Let  us  consider  the  farm,  therefore,  as  a 
unit,  to  see  what  can  be  done  for  its  better 
organization,  convenient  administration, 
and  for  the  atmosphere  of  beauty  and  com- 
fort which  ought  to  characterize  it. 

137 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 


PLAN  OF  A  ROMAN   FARM  LAYOUT  TAKEN   FROM   "WET  DAYS  AT 
EDGEWOOD." 


A.    THE   FARMHOUSE 


a  Inner  court. 
b  Summer  dining  room. 
c  Winter  dining  room. 
d  Withdrawing   rooms. 
e  Winter  apartments. 
/  Summer  apartments. 
g  Library. 


h  Servants'   hall. 

i  Dressing   room   of   baths. 

k  Bathing  room. 

/  Warm  cell. 

m  Sweating   room. 

n  Furnace. 

o  Porters'  lodges. 


B.     FARM  BUILDINGS  AND  CONNECTIONS 


1  Inner    farmyard. 

2  Pond. 

3  Outer  yard. 

4  Kitchen. 

5  New  wine. 

6  Old  wine. 

7  Housekeeper. 

8  Spinning   room. 

9  To   sick   room. 

10  Lodges. 

1 1  Stairs  to  bailiff's  room. 

12  Keeper  of  stoves. 

13  Stairs    to   work    house. 

14  Wine    press. 

15  Oil    press. 

16  Granaries. 

17  Fruit  room. 

18  Master  of  cattle. 

19  Ox   stalls. 

20  Herdsmen. 

21  Stables. 

22  Grooms. 


23  Sheepfold. 

24  Shepherds. 

25  Goat   pens. 

26  Goatherds. 

27  Dog    kennels. 

28  Cart   houses. 

29  Hog  sties 

30  Hog  keepers. 

31  Bakehouse. 

32  Mill. 

33  Outer  pond. 

34  Dunghills. 

35  Wood   and   fodder. 

36  Hen  yard. 

37,  38  Dove   houses. 

39  Thrushes. 

40  Poultry. 

41  Poulterers. 

42  Porter. 

43  Dog    kennels. 

44  Orchard. 

45  Kitchen    garden. 


138 


ROMAN   FARM  LAYOUT 
(See  opposite  page.) 

139 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

We  find  that  some  farms  are  disadvan- 
tageously  planned  at  the  outset.  In  the  old 
French  districts  of  Canada,  for  example, 
the  original  farms  were  measured  out  in 
arpents  along  one  central  road,  from  which 
they  ran  back  at  right  angles  in  long  narrow 
strips.  Subdivision  of  these  lands  has  al- 
ways run  lengthwise,  the  strips  growing  nar- 
rower as  each  generation  divided  its  patri- 
mony. I  have  myself  seen  farms  on  the  Red 
River  in  Manitoba  two  miles  long  and  sixty- 
six  feet  wide;  and  I  have  been  told  of  others 
the  same  width  and  four  miles  long.  In 
New  England  and  the  eastern  states  gener- 
ally, farms  are  often  very  irregular  and 
composed  of  scattered,  more  or  less  isolated 
tracts.  There  will  be  a  pasture  field  of  20 
acres  one-half  mile  distant  from  the  home; 
a  good  farm  lot  detached  by  a  mile,  and  per- 
haps a  lo-acre  wood  lot  two  miles  away. 
The  care  of  such  a  farm  is  obviously  much 
more  expensive  than  for  the  same  area  com- 
pactly located.  In  many  cases  it  would  be 
good  business  to  sell  outlying  holdings  and 
buy  other  land  adjoining  the  farm  head- 

140 


FARM   PLANNING 

quarters,  even  at  a  considerable  capital 
outlay. 

In  this  connection  we  may  remember  that 
the  deeds  and  surveys  of  farm  lands  are  not 
always  satisfactory,  and  this  criticism  ap- 
plies especially  to  the  farm  lands  of  New 
England.  A  new  system  of  land  transfer, 
such  as  the  Torrens  system,  slowly  coming 
into  use  in  parts  of  New  York  state,  would 
be  an  advantage  to  all  landholders.  What- 
ever the  system,  the  farmer  ought  to  be  sure 
that  his  titles  are  clear  and  altogether  sound. 

The  method  of  drawing  deeds  in  use  in 
the  eastern  states  is  very  faulty.  The  bulk 
of  the  land  has  never  been  surveyed.  No 
lines  are  definitely  established.  Brown's 
deed  reads  that  his  farm  is  bounded  on  the 
west  by  Black's  land;  and  Black's  deed 
shows  that  his  land  is  bounded  on  the  east 
by  Brown's  farm.  On  the  only  important 
question  of  where  Brown's  land  divides 
from  Black's  the  records  are  absolutely  non- 
committal. It  would  be  a  very  important 
and  substantial  public  improvement,  and  in 
most  neighborhoods  worth  many  times  the 

141 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

cost,  if  the  entire  district  could  be  officially 
surveyed  and  placed  on  permanent  record, 
so  that  a  man,  in  case  of  an  emergency,  could 
go  out  and  find  his  own  farm. 

Now,  when  a  man  has  found  his  farm  and 
has  got  possession  of  a  suitable  tract,  con- 
veniently and  compactly  located,  his  next 
problem  is  to  plan  that  whole  area  so  that  it 
may  be  most  effectively  and  economically 
administered.  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is 
to  fix  an  administrative  center.  In  plain 
English  this  usually  means  the  location  of 
the  farmhouse  and  farm  buildings.  There 
are  a  good  many  farms  now,  and  ought  to 
be  more  in  the  future,  on  which  the  busi- 
ness will  be  conducted  from  a  central  office, 
leaving  the  dwelling  house  to  seek  a  de- 
tached location.  It  is  plain  that  the  admin- 
istrative center  of  the  farm  should  be  placed 
as  nearly  as  possible  at  the  geographical 
center.  The  location  of  buildings  at  one  side 
or  extreme  corner  of  the  farm  is  a  very  com- 
mon and  expensive  fault.  It  is  important, 
of  course,  that  the  buildings  be  located  con- 
veniently to  the  public  road;  and  in  case  the 

142 


FARM   PLANNING 

public  road  touches  only  one  side  of  the 
farm,  this  may  justify  an  eccentric  location. 
The  practical  question  is  whether  there  will 
be  more  coming  and  going  between  the 
buildings  and  the  various  parts  of  the  farm, 
or  between  the  buildings  and  the  village 
corners  and  the  railroad  station. 

Other  considerations  which  should  influ- 
ence the  location  of  the  farm  buildings  are 
(i)  water  supply,  (2)  drainage,  (3)  aspect 
and  protection,  (4)  outlook  to  the  sun,  the 
sky  and  the  landscape.  In  coming  to  a 
decision  one  site  will  often  have  to  be  con- 
sidered against  another.  The  claims  gov- 
erning sites  can  then  be  balanced  best  by 
by  means  of  a  sort  of  score  card,  which 
might  take  the  following  form: 

SCORE  CARD — SITE  FOR  FARM  BUILDINGS 

Administrative   convenience 30 

(central  location) 

Public  convenience  20 

(outlet  to  village  and  R.  R.) 

Water  supply 15 

Drainage    10 

Protection  from  winds 10 

Outlook    15 

Total ioo 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

Of  course  every  man  (or  woman)  would 
have  to  make  up  such  a  score  card  for  him- 
self, for  to  some  the  outlook  would  seem  as 
important  as  administrative  convenience,  or 
water  supply  as  important  as  either. 


^^&P0 


HIT-OR-MISS   LOCATION— AN   ACTUAL    EXAMPLE 

With  the  buildings  centrally  located  the 
next  step  will  be  the  convenient  subdivision 
of  the  farm  land  so  as  to  make  all  parts 
readily  accessible.  Practicable  roads  and 
lanes  should  be  located  where  needed,  cul- 
verts put  in  where  necessary,  manageable 

144 


FARM   PLANNING 

farm  gates  installed  where  they  cannot  be 
omitted,  stiles  provided  in  certain  places, 
and  a  systematic  orderly  movement  of  the 
farm  traffic  substituted  for  the  usual  hap- 
hazard style.  There  are  thousands  of 
orchards  which  cannot  be  reached  with  a 
loaded  spray  pump,  and  thousands  of  fields 
from  which  a  load  of  hay  cannot  be  drawn 
without  a  large  chance  of  upsetting. 

Much  of  this  is  founded,  to  be  sure,  more 
upon  the  principles  of  farm  management 
than  upon  the  principles  of  landscape  archi- 
tecture; but  it  is  a  fact  which  ought  to  be 
universally  acknowledged  that  rural  im- 
provement cannot  travel  far  unless  good 
farm  management  and  taste  pull  together. 

The  farm  buildings  being  located,  their 
grouping  with  reference  to  one  another  in- 
terests us  in  turn.  In  actual  practice  we  can 
seldom  find  a  farm  where  this  prob- 
lem has  been  seriously  considered.  Such 
arrangement  as  we  find  in  certain  parts 
of  the  country  is  obviously  the  result  of 
tradition  rather  than  of  intelligent  study 
of  the  matter.  In  most  parts  of  Amer- 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

ica  farm  buildings  are  merely  scattered 
about,  hit-or-miss,  without  much  rela- 
tion to  one  another.  The  house  is  com- 
monly placed  next  the  road,  the  barn  100 
feet  away  from  it  in  almost  any  direction, 
and  the  other  buildings  fall  into  any  space 
which  happens  to  be  open  at  the  time  of 


THE   CONNECTED   SERIES— VERMONT    EXAMPLE 

their  making.  This  system  (or  lack  of  sys- 
tem) reaches  its  worst  when  the  buildings 
are  scattered  "  all  over  a  forty-acre  lot,"  so 
that  the  farmer  must  walk  20  miles  to  do  a 
day's  chores. 

Conditions  of  life  and  climate  in  New 
England  serve  to  develop  a  type  of  arrange- 

146 


FARM   PLANNING 

ment  compact  and  in  many  ways  useful. 
The  house  was  placed  next  the  street  (typi- 
cally, end  to  the  street),  back  of  it  and 
joined  to  it  came  the  woodshed,  next  the 
granary  or  toolhouse,  and  lastly  the  barn, 
the  whole  forming  a  connected  linear  series. 
The  only  serious  objection  to  this  arrange- 
ment is  the  fire  risk.  If  one  building  catches 
fire  the  whole  layout  is  pretty  sure  to  burn. 

Another  and  inferior  style  of  arrange- 
ment occasionally  found  in  the  eastern  states 
places  the  house  on  one  side  of  the  public 
road  with  the  barn  and  dependent  build- 
ings directly  opposite,  and  facing  the  house. 
This  arrangement  is  fairly  convenient  and 
reduces  the  fire  risk  somewhat,  but  it  ex- 
hibits the  premises  in  bad  odor  to  the  pub- 
lic; and  no  one  can  hope  to  find  the  best 
type  of  human  culture  developed  in  that 
family  which  from  year's  end  to  year's  end 
gazes  wistfully  into  the  cattle  yards  and  the 
manure  spreader. 

From  a  purely  scientific  point  of  view 
the  best  arrangement  of  farm  buildings  is 
probably  the  quadrangular,  as  shown  in  the 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


HIGHWAY 


/1..1..J      l\V...v--' 


v. ,  •.:.  •^ri;;;.:^*;.vM'^RS==*»2K»»as=«  K^' 


Q 


FARM   BUILDINGS   ARRANGED   AROUND   A    QUADRANGLE 


I48 


FARM   PLANNING 

accompanying  diagrams.  The  several  unit 
buildings  may  be  placed  against  one  an- 
other, or  may  be  somewhat  detached,  as  cir- 
cumstances may  dictate.  This  grouping 
supplies  the  basis  for  the  most  economical 
management  of  farm  business.  The  fire 
risk  should  be  reduced  by  fireproof  or  slow- 
burning  construction — a  type  of  building 
properly  within  the  means  of  modern  and 
prosperous  agriculture.  There  is  one  draw- 
back to  the  quadrilateral  scheme  of  arrange- 
ment, namely  that  a  closed  square  offers 
great  difficulties  in  the  addition  of  new 
buildings  or  the  extension  of  old  ones.  Fore- 
sight will  deprive  this  objection  of  some  of 
its  force,  the  preventive  measures  being  to 
plan  the  extensions  with  the  original  layout, 
or  to  leave  an  open  axis  along  which  the 
building  scheme  may  be  extended. 

The  artistic  and  purely  ornamental  treat- 
ment of  the  farm  grounds  is  a  matter  which 
has  often  been  discussed.  It  is,  indeed,  about 
the  only  phase  of  the  subject  which  receives 
popular  attention,  although  it  is  the  last  one 
which  can  be  taken  up  in  actual  practice.  It 

149 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


is  difficult  within  reasonably  brief  compass 
to  give  any  really  constructive  advice  in  this 
matter,  but  a  few  suggestions  must  be 
offered  nevertheless. 

The  ornamental  treatment  of  farms  may 
follow  an  almost  infinite  variety  of  methods, 


QQQGQo 
QOQGQ w 


o 


;.  .-•  IT  TWX 


ANOTHER  QUADRANGULAR   ARRANGEMENT 
150 


FARM   PLANNING 

but  in  order  to  simplify  our  discussion  of  the 
subject,  we  will,  rather  arbitrarily,  reduce 
these  to  three  types,  which  we  will  call  re- 
spectively the  park  treatment,  the  garden 
treatment  and  the  plain  treatment. 

The  park  treatment  is  applicable  to  rela- 
tively large  and  prosperous  farms,  or  to 
those  which  are  the  country  homes  of  city 
people  rather  than  the  business  farms  of 
actual  farmers.  On  such  places  there  must 
be  considerable  areas — perhaps  4  or  5  acres, 
perhaps  400  or  500  acres — which  can  be 
given  up  to  ornamental  treatment.  These 
areas  are  then  developed  as  a  private  pleas- 
ure park,  emphasizing  all  natural  features 
of  beauty,  such  as  meadows,  streams  or 
woodland,  or  even  creating  these  where  con- 
ditions are  favorable.  Such  "country  seats" 
or  farm  parks  are  characteristic  of  rural 
England,  and  the  artistic  style  to  be  em- 
ployed in  their  development  is  inevitably 
English.  It  is  the  natural  style  of  landscape 
gardening  in  its  pristine  and  bucolic  sim- 
plicity. There  are  a  few  good  examples  of 
it  in  America,  but  there  ought  to  be  thou- 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

sands  more.  There  are  today  many  thou- 
sands of  American  farmers  (omitting  for 
the  present  the  city  farmers)  who  can  well 
afford  to  appropriate  10  acres  or  20  acres 
apiece  from  their  farms  to  be  made  into 
parks  and  pleasure  grounds.  In  many  in- 
stances such  a  move  would  pay  its  way  as 
a  real  estate  investment. 

The  garden  treatment  ought  to  be  the 
most  common  one,  especially  for  bona-fide 
farms.  This  scheme  is  based  upon  the  prin- 
ciple that  every  farm  residence  should  have 
a  small  bit  of  lawn,  a  flower  garden  and  a 
vegetable  garden,  and  that  all  these  ought 
to  be  artistically  brought  together  as  one 
organic  unit  focusing  upon  the  farmhouse 
as  the  center.  These  ornamental  grounds 
ought  to  be  small,  otherwise  they  cannot  be 
maintained  in  presentable  order.  Perhaps 
the  ideal  type  will  be  somewhat  like  that 
shown  on  page  155 — a  small  lawn  in  front 
of  the  house,  a  vegetable  garden  on  the 
kitchen  side  and  a  flower  garden  on  the  liv- 
ing side  of  the  house.  The  outline  sketch 
here  given  is  not  meant  necessarily  to  sug- 

152 


FARM   PLANNING 


PARK-LIKE   TREATMENT  OF   FARM  GROUNDS 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

gest  a  formal  garden,  for,  though  the  re- 
stricted grounds  will  naturally  lead  to  a 
more  or  less  formal  treatment,  still  the  taste 
of  many  farm  families  will  develop  a  more 
free  and  easy  arrangement. 

It  should  be  particularly  noticed  that  the 
scheme  here  offered  shows  the  lawn  in  front 
of  the  house  bare  of  all  flower  beds,  foun- 
tains, statuettes  and  furniture  of  every  de- 
scription. All  these  things  belong  in  the 
flower  garden  and  never  on  the  lawn;  and 
it  is  the  commonest  mistake  of  farming  and 
gardening  to  put  them  directly  in  front  of 
the  house.  Keep  the  front  lawn  clear  and 
open  to  the  last  degree,  plant  flowers  and 
shrubs  in  the  garden  where  they  can  be  suc- 
cessfully cultivated,  put  the  cast-iron  deer 
and  the  camp  kettle  flower  pot  on  the  junk 
heap. 

The  plain  treatment,  as  we  have  called  it, 
is  a  rough  caption  under  which  to  describe 
the  large  number  of  farms  whereon  still 
simpler  schemes  of  ornamentation  must  be 
adopted.  There  will  still  be  thousands  of 
farms  where  flower  gardens  will  not  be 

154 


7PSSfH3S3W<ms«a^^ 

m 


u 
\ 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

prized  and  when  a  semi-ornamental  treat- 
ment of  the  vegetable  garden  will  seem  un- 
necessary. But  even  the  poorest  and  mean- 
est farmyard  should  not  be  without  its  touch 
of  beauty,  order  and  dignity.  There  will  be 
some  front  yard  at  least,  and  this  will  be 
kept  clean  and  tidy.  There  will  be  clumps 
of  lilacs  at  the  front  door  or  a  trumpet  vine 
climbing  on  the  piazza.  And  best  of  all 
there  will  be  a  few  big  trees — elms,  maples 
or  tulip,  between  the  house  and  the  street. 
The  trees  are  almost  indispensable,  but 
given  a  few  really  good  trees  the  whole 
scheme  is  safe. 

In  case  the  farmhouse  can  sit  back  100  to 
500  feet  from  the  public  road,  with  nearly 
level  land  intervening,  a  straight  avenue  of 
trees  leading  direct  to  the  front  door  is 
always  dignified  and  in  good  taste.  This 
arrangement  is  seen  rather  frequently  before 
the  fine  old  plantation  houses  of  Virginia 
and  the  southern  states  and  is  usually  in  the 
highest  degree  pleasing  and  satisfactory. 

Finally,  in  dealing  with  the  improvement 
of  farms  and  farm  yards,  we  come  to  a  mat- 


FARM   PLANNING 

ter  of  the  utmost  consequence,  viz.,  the  con- 
stant care  of  the  premises.  Many  farms 
"look  all  run  down,"  the  buildings  needing 
paint,  the  fences  sagging,  the  windmill 
minus  a  wing,  plows,  wagons  and  self- 
binders  out  to  the  weather  and  standing  in 
helpless  disorder  all  over  the  front  yard. 
Even  when  it  does  not  reach  its  worst  this 
disease  is  fatal  to  any  real  beauty  in  the  farm 
life.  Disorder  of  every  sort  must  be  abso- 
lutely banished.  The  place  must  be  kept 
clean  and  tidy  and  constantly  put  to  rights. 
This  is  a  thousand  times  more  important 
than  the  making  of  a  flower  garden  or  the 
planning  of  a  pergola  and  a  croquet  court. 

Such  improvements  of  farms,  farm  yards 
and  farm  neighborhoods  as  are  here  urged 
can  be  promoted  in  various  ways.  Prizes 
can  be  offered  by  boards  of  agriculture  or  by 
local  fair  associations.  It  would  be  just  as 
legitimate  to  give  a  liberal  prize  for  the  best 
planned  and  best  kept  farm  in  a  county  as  to 
the  biggest  pumpkin  or  the  gaudiest  bed- 
quilt.  Farm  improvement  can  be  talked  up 
in  farmers'  clubs  and  especially  in  granges. 

157 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

There  are  hundreds  of  subordinate  and 
pomona  granges  where  a  vigorous  propa- 
ganda of  this  sort  would  be  the  most  helpful 
work  undertaken  in  a  decade.  This  busi- 
ness has  so  much  good  in  it  that  even  the 
churches  might  take  it  up,  and  an  occasional 
sermon  from  the  pulpit  on  these  lines  would 
be  a  welcome  relief  from  the  curse  of  riches 
and  the  general  bow-wows.  Indeed,  there 
is  not  a  club,  lodge  or  organization  of  any 
sort,  in  business  for  the  good  of  the  com- 
munity, which  cannot  wisely  assist  in  such  a 
campaign. 


There  are  many  misconceptions  current 
about  town  and  city  planning,  but  none  is 
farther  from  the  fact  than  the  notion  that 
comprehensive  plans  are  only  for  large  cit- 
ies. The  reverse  is  nearer  the  truth. 

JOHN  NOLEN, 
"Replanning  Small  Cities." 


CHAPTER  IX 
COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

THAT  branch  of  civic  art  in  which  the 
most  active  work  is  now  being  done  is 
usually  called  city  planning.  On  every  hand 
new  cities  and  city  additions  are  being 
planned  by  experts,  following  modern  ideas 
and  introducing  many  features  of  marked 
improvement  over  old  styles.  Similar  sane, 
scientific  and  artistic  ideals  ought  to  be  ap- 
plied to  the  planning  of  the  rural  districts 
and  of  those  natural  rural  centers,  the  coun- 
try villages.  As  relates  to  the  planning  of 
country  roads  something  has  already  been 
said,  in  the  chapter  on  roads  and  streets. 
The  general  principles  of  community  de- 
sign may  now  be  considered  in  more  detail 
and  with  more  special  reference  to  the 
villages. 

We  meet  one  serious  obstacle  at  once  in 
the  fact  that  many  small  country  villages 

1 60 


HANOVER,    N.    H.,   COMMON    AND    CHURCH. 
SPRINGFIELD,  VT.,  VILLAGE  CENTER 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

are  trying  to  be  big  cities.  Even  when  they 
have  actually  given  up  all  hope  of  metro- 
politan growth  they  still  persistently, 
though  half  unconsciously,  ape  metropoli- 
tan behavior.  They  are  like  old  maids,  for- 
saken by  opportunity,  but  still  simpering 
and  smiling  as  though  commanding  a 
fecund  future.  The  western  states  are  espe- 
cially burdened  with  such  still-born  me- 
tropoli.  Every  crossroads  is  going  to  be  a 
county  seat,  and  every  county  seat  aspires  to 
be  the  state  capital.  Meanwhile  no  town 
has  the  inspiration  and  ignity  to  be  itself. 
The  condition  of  those  unhappy  towns 
which  cannot  be  even  county  seats  is  espe- 
cially pitiable.  They  stand  about  the  prai- 
ries, forlorn  and  wretched  in  the  extreme. 
The  New  England  village  is  a  much  better 
community  in  every  respect,  chiefly  because 
it  is  satisfied  and  even  proud  to  be  a  village, 
and  being  proud  of  its  place  in  the  world  it 
undertakes  earnestly  to  make  the  best  of  it. 
In  99  villages  and  towns  out  of  every  100 
throughout  the  United  States — more  espe- 
cially in  the  South  and  West — the  first  work 

161 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

of  community  improvement  lies  in  killing 
the  poison  of  false  ambition  and  establish- 
ing a  patriotic  self-respect. 

From  our  present  point  of  view  the  great 
damage  that  results  from  this  foolish  ambi- 
tion is  that  the  town  is  wrongly  planned.  It 
is  laid  out  on  the  expectation  that  it  will 
one  day  be  a  Chicago,  a  Winnipeg  or  a  Seat- 
tle. If  it  were  definitely  designed  from  the 
first  to  take  care  of  a  population  of  250  or 
600,  as  the  reasonable  expectation  might  be, 
it  would  be  a  great  deal  better. 

That  is,  it  would  if  intelligently  planned. 
It  is  wonderful,  however,  how  little  intelli- 
gence is  commonly  used  in  city  planning, 
and  especially  in  those  places  where  the 
projectors  are  free  to  make  a  plan.  Out  on 
the  plains  railroads  are  still  being  built  and 
some  hundreds  of  towns  (including  some 
county  seats)  are  being  laid  out  on  clean 
land  every  year.  Surely  here  is  the  greatest 
opportunity  in  the  world  to  put  to  use  the 
best  new  knowledge  of  community  planning. 
As  most  of  these  new  towns  are  born  with  a 
railroad  company  for  one  parent,  one  would 

162 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

expect  the  companies  to  introduce  some 
technical  experience  into  the  youngsters' 
education.  But  they  do  not.  As  each  new 
town  is  projected  by  its  heedless  sponsors, 
the  land  boomers  and  the  railroad  promot- 
ers, it  merely  follows  the  old,  trite,  childish 
checkerboard  pattern,  now  known  to  be  the 
worst  ever  devised  for  village,  town  or  city. 

Other  expensive  and  inexcusable  mis- 
takes accompany  this  gridiron  plan.  Be- 
sides having  spent  all  my  boyhood  in  the 
country  where  this  happens,  I  have  recently 
visited  and  studied  several  of  these  new  and 
ambitious  towns  and  have  vividly  renewed 
my  knowledge  of  their  defects.  The  worst 
of  these  defects  are  as  follows: 

(i)  The  streets  are  made  all  the  same 
width.  Here  one  finds  a  street  serving  a 
population  of  50  souls,  but  the  street  is  80 
feet  wide,  and  60  feet  of  that  is  asphalt.  The 
street  really  has  no  need  for  asphalt,  but 
there  must  be  so  many  miles  of  asphalt 
street  to  beat  the  rival  town  20  miles  away. 
Even  so,  16  feet  wide  would  have  been  quite 
asphalt  enough  and  much  cheaper;  and  the 

163 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


164 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

abutting  property  owners  would  have  had 
cool  grass  in  front  of  their  houses  in  place 
of  black  asphalt,  which  absorbs  heat  all  day 
and  gives  it  up  all  night,  especially  in  July 
and  August. 

(2)  Streets  are  generally  too  wide.     In 
thousands  of  prairie  towns  every  street  is 
wider  than  the  Strand  in  London,  Friedrich- 
strasse  in  Berlin  or  Broadway,  New  York. 
Such  streets  are  by  no  means  needed  for 
traffic  and  are  a  needless  expense. 

(3)  Streets  do  not  follow  the  contours  of 
the  land.    This  is  the  fault  primarily  of  the 
rigid   checkerboard   system,   the   results   of 
which    are    doubly    deplorable    when    the 
straight  streets  run  up  steep  hills  or  across 
narrow  gullies,  involving  interminable  ex- 
pense in  street  making  and  endless  damage 
to  adjoining  real  estate.    This  is  one  of  the 
most  ridiculous,  and  fortunately  one  of  the 
most  widely  recognized  mistakes  in  com- 
munity planning. 

(4)  There  is  a  lamentable  failure  to  re- 
serve public  grounds.     Every  Old  World 
village  has  its  open  marketplace,  and  the 

165 


New  England  town  has  its  common.  These 
public  forums  have  been  of  inestimable 
value  in  the  civic  life  of  those  communities, 
and  it  is  beyond  explanation  that  the  intelli- 
gent and  ambitious  people  who  have  made 
and  are  making  the  new  towns  should 
neglect  a  matter  of  such  consequence. 

(5)  There  is  a  similar  failure  to  reserve 
sites  for  public  buildings.  At  the  very  out- 
set the  town  expects  to  have  schoolhouses, 
churches,  a  library  and  possibly  other  pub- 
lic buildings.  Why  provision  is  not  made 
for  these  in  the  original  plan  passes  all  un- 
derstanding. 

The  best  results  in  the  way  of  small  vil- 
lages have  been  secured  through  natural 
growth  rather  than  through  premeditated 
planning.  That  is,  a  slow  and  natural  devel- 
opment in  response  to  actual  needs  and 
guided  by  natural  conditions  of  topography, 
will  more  fully  satisfy  all  utilities  than  any 
theoretical  plan  evolved  on  paper.  And  the 
utilities  thus  fully  satisfied -- legitimate 
needs  frankly  met — there  has  been  achieved 
one  of  the  prime  elements  of  beauty.  In  the 

1 66 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

mushroom  towns  of  the  central  and  western 
states,  however,  the  growth  method  cannot 
be  so  confidently  relied  on.  There  must  be 
some  sort  of  plan  at  the  start.  Having  re- 
jected the  checkerboard  layout,  we  are  in 
duty  bound  to  say  what  should  take  its  place. 

Now,  it  must  be  admitted  that  in  the  flat 
prairie  regions  the  checkerboard  design  is 
less  disastrous  than  in  rolling  or  hilly  coun- 
try. Though  it  is  certainly  not  the  best 
style  of  town  making,  the  designer  hesitates 
to  manufacture  irregularities  of  street  plan 
for  a  perfectly  level  site.  On  hills  or  moun- 
tainsides he  can  follow  the  contours  and 
thus  achieve  picturesqueness  of  aspect  com- 
bined with  variety  of  prospect  and  conveni- 
ence of  life.  On  flat  land,  what  shall  be  the 
designer's  motif?  Evidently  it  must  be  the 
long  level  horizon  line — the  straight  line. 
Winding,  circuitous  streets  will  be  out  of 
the  question. 

Now,  these  straight  street  lines  can  be 
combined  in  an  infinite  variety  of  ways  be- 
sides that  of  the  gridiron.  First  of  all  they 
should  be  broken  into  short  sections,  the 

167 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

long,  unterminated  street  on  flat  land  being 
especially  monotonous.  It  has  a  peculiarly 
futile  effect.  It  seems  to  arrive  nowhere. 

These  straight  streets,  broken  up  into 
short  sections,  should  now  be  arranged  so  as 
to  avoid,  on  the  one  hand,  the  monotonous 
parallelism  of  the  checkerboard  system,  and 
on  the  other,  the  helter-skelter  effect  of  no 
system  at  all.  The  divergencies  from  the 
four  points  of  the  compass  should  be  reason- 
able and  moderate. 

The  next  point  in  such  a  plan  is  to  secure 
a  variety  of  street  intersections.  This  highly 
important  matter  has  been  worked  out  only 
by  the  modern  German  planners  and  by  the 
architects  of  the  Renaissance  in  northern 
Italy.  It  may  be  applied,  however,  directly 
to  the  design  of  streets  for  modern  Ameri- 
can villages.  Now,  when  two  streets  cross 
in  this  country  it  is  usually  thought  obliga- 
tory that  they  should  make  a  clean  inter- 
section; as  at  A.  The  fact  is  that  a  broken 
intersection,  as  that  shown  in  B,  has  many 
sound  advantages  which  make  it  best  under 
certain  circumstances.  It  gives  command- 

168 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 


ing  locations,  at  the  end  of  street  vistas,  to 
four  buildings.  Such  locations  are  desir- 
able either  for  public  buildings,  business 
blocks  or  residences.  Traffic  is  not  ob- 
structed. 


B 

STREET  INTERSECTIONS 


But  even  this  arrangement,  though  de- 
cidedly superior  to  the  usual  featureless  in- 
tersection, is  more  stiff  and  formal  than 

169 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

necessary.  Moreover,  it  cannot  be  fre- 
quently repeated,  or  it  becomes  more  monot- 
onous and  tedious  than  a  less  pretentious 


MORE  STREET  INTERSECTIONS 


unit.  Since  the  streets  in  our  ideal  plan  are 
not  to  be  parallel,  they  need  not  meet  at 
right  angles,  and  a  great  diversity  and  in- 
formality in  the  intersections  may  be 
secured,  as  suggested  at  C,  D  and  E. 

170 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

Now,  in  the  intersections  at  B  and  E  re- 
spectively there  appears  to  be  a  little  dot  of 
unused  room.  In  this  spot  a  fine  tree  may 


SMALL  OPEN   SQUARE,   GEORGETOWN,   MASS. 

be  very  effectively  placed,  or  such  points 
become  the  very  best  of  sites  for  fountains, 
statues  or  other  memorials  when  required. 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

If  this  system  of  planning  is  carried  to  its 
proper  conclusion,  however,  there  will  be 


RECESSED  GROUP  OF  RESIDENCES 

considerable  larger  open  spaces  left  at  many 
points,  especially,  though  not  always,  at 
street  junctions.  Such  varied  and  irregular 

172 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

open  spots  are  shown  in  the  modern  Ger- 
man plans;  and  in  practice  they  give  the 
most  interesting  and  delightful  results.  The 
sketch  plan  at  F  shows  a  most  attractive  lit- 
tle open  spot  of  this  kind,  something  less 
than  100  feet  square,  occurring  accidentally 
in  an  old  New  England  village. 

In  the  "garden  suburbs"  of  England, 
especially  in  those  designed  by  Mr.  Ray- 
mond Unwin,  rather  frequent  use  is  made  of 
small  public  or  semi-public  greens  recessed 
from  the  street,  as  shown  in  plan  G.  This 
little  space  is  used  for  a  green  or  park,  or 
for  a  children's  playground,  or  for  a  tennis 
court  or  for  a  common  flower  garden.  In 
any  case  it  provides  a  very  delightful  front- 
age for  eight  or  a  dozen  dwellings.  These 
houses,  though  still  within  immediate  reach 
of  the  street,  are  away  from  the  dust  and 
gasoline  and  enjoy  a  much  pleasanter  out- 
look than  can  ever  be  arranged  from  12 
houses  standing  in  a  straight  line  along  a 
straight  street.  The  inlook  is  also  to  be  con- 
sidered; and  certainly  the  view  given  to  the 
passerby  glimpsing  across  this  little  green 

173 


MORE   ELABORATE   RECESSED  GROUP 
After  Raymond   Unwin 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

is  novel,  varied,  and  altogether  charming. 

In  village  planning  also  there  ought  to  be 
more  frequent  short  streets  or  "places"  with 
dead  ends,  accommodating  six  to  a  dozen 
residences.  Such  streets  are  necessarily 
quiet  and  clean,  being  free  from  every  pos- 
sibility of  through  travel.  The  cost  of  street 
making  and  maintenance  is  reduced  to  the 
minimum. 

Such  suggestions  as  these  can  be  put  into 
effect  freely  only  in  towns  in  the  nascent 
state,  towns  just  being  planned  or  new  addi- 
tions to  existing  towns.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
hoped  that  future  community  planning, 
whether  in  cities,  suburbs,  or  country  vil- 
lages, will  show  more  variety,  more  art  and 
more  intelligent  attention  to  utilitarian 
needs  than  the  American  plans  of  the  last 
200  years. 

A  pertinent  question  is,  What  can  be  done 
for  the  improvement  of  towns  already 
monotonously  built  on  the  checkerboard 
plan  ?  Careful,  intelligent  study  of  any  par- 
ticular case  will  reveal  a  good  deal  that  can 
be  done.  Here  and  there  are  corners  that 

175 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


Hat<l 


FA  yVaugh.  /VoV  /^V«.  Tbct  (Surrey-  Jc^/e    /  VW 


ACTUAL    STREET     INTERSECTIONS,     SHOWING     EXISTING 
IRREGULARITIES 


,76 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

can  be  knocked  off,  and  which,  when 
planted  with  trees  or  grass,  become  practic- 
able commons,  breaking  up  the  dull  regu- 
larity of  the  scheme,  and  introducing  a 
sense  of  cozy  homeliness.  Here  and  there 
are  entire  blocks,  sometimes  two  blocks  in 
a  place,  which  can  be  condemned  for  play- 
grounds or  other  public  uses.  The  width  of 
the  streets,  or  at  least  the  paved  portions, 
can  be  varied  in  proportion  to  the  traffic. 
On  the  surplus  width  varying  schemes  of 
tree  planting  and  parking  can  be  carried 
out  In  a  few  cases  street  junctions  may  be 
broken  up  to  secure  diversity;  and  occasion- 
ally neighboring  houses  can  be  grouped  so 
as  to  secure  some  mass  effect  of  architecture. 
In  this  last  particular  truly  wonderful  re- 
sults are  secured  in  the  garden  suburbs  of 
England  and  Germany — results  which  we 
cannot  approach  under  most  American  con- 
ditions. 

The  principles  of  community  planning 
are  here  discussed  with  special  reference  to 
the  conditions  in  country  towns  and  vil- 
lages; but  the  same  considerations  apply  to 

177 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


IMPORTANT  CENTRAL  STREET  CORNERS,  FROM  ACTUAL  SURVEY 

,78 


COMMUNITY  PLANNING 

some  extent  to  community  planning  in  the 
open  country.  For  the  open  country  ought 
to  be  planned  as  carefully  as  the  town  or 
city.  The  subject  in  its  rural  applications, 
however,  is  dealt  with  more  fully  in  the 
lecture  on  roads. 


179 


Denn  die  Krdfte,  die  jene  Welt  der  Ruhe, 
des  reifen  kiinstlerischen  Behayens  geschaf- 
fen  haben,  sind  noch  immer  lebendig.  Nur 
die  Achtung  und  die  Kenntnis  sind  vermin- 
dert.  Haben  <wir  diese  erstarken  lassen, 
dann  werden  auch  die  Krdfte  wirksam  und 
damit  ein  Eiinklang  mit  den  Bedurfnissen 
des  modernen  Lebens  <wieder  hergstellt  <wer- 
den.  Diese  Krdfte  sind  in  der  Hauptsache 
die  geographischen  Verhdltnisse  der  Erdo- 
berfldche,  die  mit  ihren  Land,  Wasser  und 
V 'egetationsformen  Lebensgewohnheit  und 
L/ebensmoglichkeit  bestimmen.  Erganzt 
iverden  sie  durch  den  V erkehr  mit  seinen 
wirtschaftlichen  Einflussen,  die  die  Landge- 
biete  einander  ndher  bringen,  die  Landein- 
heiten  in  Vielheiten  auflosen  und  umgek- 
ehrt  wieder  E/inheitsgebiete  schaffen.  Diese 
Krdfte  hatten  bisher  die  Formen  der  Siedel- 
lungen,  in  weiterem  Sinne  auch  die  der  Er- 
doberfldche  bestimmt;  sie  hatten  kilnstle- 
rische  und  wirtschaftliche  V 'erdnderungen 
auszerordentlich  beeinfluszt. 

ROBERT  MIELKE, 

"Das  Dorf." 


180 


CHAPTER  X 
RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

IN  architecture  the  two  elements  of  art, 
utility  and  beauty,  meet  in  a  peculiarly 
even  balance.  Every  work  of  architecture 
grows  out  of  a  genuine  utilitarian  need.  The 
bridge,  the  church  and  the  silo — each  is 
built  to  serve  some  very  definite  purpose. 
Yet  each  must  be  in  its  way  beautiful.  An 
ugly  church,  an  ugly  bridge  or  an  ugly  silo 
is  inexcusable.  Men  and  women  must  spend 
their  precious  daily  lives  looking  at  these 
objects.  If  each  look  brings  pleasure,  then 
these  works  of  architecture  are  serving  a 
higher  purpose  in  human  happiness  than  in 
meeting  the  needs  which  first  called  them 
forth.  On  the  other  hand,  if  every  look  at 
bridge  or  church  or  silo  fills  the  beholder 
with  disappointment  and  disgust,  it  were 
better  that  a  car  wheel  had  been  tied  about 
that  architect's  neck  and  he  had  been 
drowned  in  the  depths  of  the  Great  Salt 
Lake. 

181 


Architecture  plays  a  great  part,  almost  a 
leading  role,  in  community  betterment.  If 
we  are  to  have  a  country  beautiful  or  a  vil- 
lage beautiful  (and  at  the  same  time  use- 
ful), architecture  must  be  appealed  to  on 
many  sides.  There  must  be  good  and  beau- 
tiful houses  for  homes,  substantial,  conveni- 
ent, dignified  public  buildings,  serviceable 
and  beautiful  barns,  attractive  bridges,  and 
many  other  public  and  private  works  of  the 
right  kind.  Let  us  begin  with  the  farm- 
houses. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  farmhouses  of 
America  leave  much  to  be  desired.  Just 
why  they  should  continue  to  be  so  ugly  and 
inconvenient  is  very  hard  to  explain.  To  be 
sure,  farmers  generally  do  not  and  cannot 
employ  expensive  architects  in  planning 
their  houses;  but  there  are  plenty  of  good 
models  described  and  illustrated  in  the  mag- 
azines for  which  the  farmer  subscribes,  and, 
furthermore,  there  have  been  excellent  tra- 
ditions in  some  parts  of  the  country  which 
should  have  had  a  greater  influence. 

There  are  three  good  types  of  farmhouse 

182 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

known  in  America.  The  first  of  these  is  the 
old  colonial  country  house  of  New  England. 
There  are  two  or  three  varieties  of  this  type, 
but  all  of  them  good.  The  second  is  the  old 
ante-bellum  plantation  house  of  the  South. 


OLD  STYLE  NEW  ENGLAND  FARMHOUSE 

These  two  types  were  widely  multiplied 
and  universally  admired  in  the  days  before 
the  civil  war;  and  the  deep  and  horrible  re- 
sults of  that  war  are  nowhere  more  demon- 
strable than  in  the  disappearance  of  these 
fine  architectural  forms.  After  the  war  men 

183 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

simply  ceased  to  build  good  houses  and  pro- 
ceeded shamelessly  to  build  the  most  crude 
and  vulgar  buildings  that  ever  cumbered  a 
fair  country.  In  the  South  poverty  and  dis- 
couragement gave  some  excuse;  but  in  the 
North,  where  such  plausible  explanation 
was  absent,  the  results  were  even  worse.  It 
may  be  said  with  emphasis  that  the  dwell- 
inghouse  architecture  of  the  United  States, 
whether  on  farms,  in  villages,  or  in  cities, 
in  the  twenty-five  years  following  the  civil 
war  was  execrably  bad.  The  exceptions 
were  hardly  sufficient  to  prove  the  rule. 
And  at  the  present  time  we  are  just  begin- 
ning to  awaken  from  that  awful  architectu- 
ral nightmare. 

The  third  type  of  rural  dwelling  to  which 
we  have  referred  is  a  modern  one,  and  has 
been  introduced  as  a  part  of  our  awakening 
to  better  ideals.  This  is  the  bungalow. 
Now  the  bungalow  is  a  special  type  of 
architecture,  developed  in  response  to  rather 
special  conditions,  these  conditions  being 
primarily  a  level  country  and  a  warm  cli- 
mate. As  these  conditions  prevail  widely  in 

184 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

the  United  States,  the  bungalow  seems 
adapted  to  a  great  area  of  country.  It  has 
two  additional  qualities  recommending  it  to 
use  on  farms.  First,  it  covers  a  good  deal 
of  ground  and  is  unsuited  to  the  crowding 


PRIZE    DESIGN    FOR    MINNESOTA    FARMHOUSE 

of  three-story  apartments  and  six-story  fac- 
tories in  cities  and  towns.  Second,  the 
bungalow  being  usually  all  on  one  floor, 
greatly  relieves  the  strain  of  housekeeping 
at  the  precise  point  where  relief  is  much  to 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

be  desired.  It  seems  fair  to  recommend  the 
bungalow  style  rather  freely  for  use  on  the 
prosperous  farms  of  the  interior  prairie 
states — a  section  where  the  farmhouses  gen- 
erally are  distressingly  inferior  to  the  scale 
of  the  surrounding  civilization,  and  where 


1 

SIMPLE   BUNGALOW    DESIGN    FROM    THE   CRAFTSMAN 

some  reasonable  type  of  architecture  is 
sorely  missed.  The  farmers  of  the  middle 
West  have  generally  copied  their  dwelling 
houses  from  the  towns,  and  have  taken  the 
worst  models  at  that. 

This  recommendation  of   the   bungalow, 

1 86 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

however,  must  not  be  taken  wholly  without 
qualification.  A  new  style  like  this  is  bound 
to  be  abused.  Already  one  sees  more  bun- 
gles than  bungalows.  People  who  have  no 
intelligent  ideas  of  the  style,  its  logic  or  its 
adaptations,  try  to  compromise  it  with  their 
hereditary  prejudices  and  with  their  pref- 
erences for  Queen  Anne,  renaissance  and 
early  Chicago  details,  the  results  being  won- 
derful, but  seldom  either  convenient  or 
beautiful. 

For  the  northeastern  states  nothing  could 
be  happier  than  a  return  to  the  typical  forms 
of  the  old  colonial  farmhouses,  modifying 
these  forms  only  enough  to  bring  into  them 
the  modern  conveniences.  Such  modifica- 
tions would  be  very  slight,  for,  though  fur- 
nace heat  would  be  introduced,  the  old  fire- 
places might  well  be  retained,  and  the  wir- 
ing for  electric  lights  would  not  affect  the 
house  design. 

Similarly  the  best  thing  that  could  hap- 
pen to  the  farm  architecture  of  the  southern 
states  would  be  a  renaissance  of  the  colonial 
type  of  plantation  house.  Spanish,  mission 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

and  bungalow  styles  are  being  experimented 
with  to  a  considerable  extent  in  the  South; 
but  while  these  may  be  useful  in  cities, 
villages  and  in  the  winter  homes  of  affluent 
northerners,  they  are  of  very  doubtful  avail- 
ability as  models  for  farmhouses. 


A  CRAFTSMAN  DESIGN  FOR  A  FARMHOUSE 


Along  with  questions  of  style  and  exterior 
design  should  go  considerations  of  interior 
arrangement.  Farmhouses  have  been  nota- 
bly lacking  in  interior  design  and  in  all  the 
modern  conveniences.  The  time  has  fully 
come  to  change  all  this.  While  we  have  not 
space  here  to  tell  how  the  kitchen  should  be 

188 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

arranged,  how  the  cellar  should  be  built, 
or  how  the  closets  should  be  designed,  we 
may  insist  that  these  matters  be  given  thor- 
ough study  whenever  a  new  farmhouse  is 
built.  If  the  builder  cannot  afford  to  em- 
ploy an  architect  (or  thinks  he  cannot,  for 
usually  it  would  be  economy  to  do  so),  he 
can  at  least  get  good  plans  from  various 
magazines,  and  many  of  the  state  agricultu- 
ral colleges  are  now  giving  considerable  at- 
tention to  farmhouse  design. 

When  the  modern  farmhouse  has  been 
intelligently  planned  by  the  best  architect 
it  is  ready  to  profit  by  all  the  so-called  mod- 
ern conveniences.  These  are  fresh  air,  elec- 
tric or  gas  lighting,  furnace  heat,  water  sup- 
ply, sewerage,  and  in  some  cases  electric 
power. 

One  of  the  greatest  luxuries  of  life  is 
fresh  air,  and  in  the  country  it  is  one  of  the 
cheapest.  Perhaps  this  is  the  very  reason 
why  it  is  so  lightly  regarded.  But  the  way 
many  farmhouses  are  left  without  ventila- 
tion is  hardly  less  than  criminal.  The  usual 
style  of  winter  comfort  is  to  gather  in  the 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

small  sitting  room,  with  all  the  doors  and 
windows  doublelocked  and  with  a  roaring 
stove  fire  which  burns  up  all  the  oxygen  in 
circulation.  In  this  hot,  stuffy  atmosphere, 
breathed  hundreds  of  times  over,  the  happy 
family,  after  a  heavy  dinner  of  beef  stew, 
baked  beans  and  mince  pie,  quickly  goes 
to  sleep,  or  at  best,  subsides  into  a  stupor 
too  dull  for  reading  or  playing  checkers  or 
figuring  feeding  rations  for  the  dairy  herd. 
The  bedrooms  are  apt  to  be  likewise  with- 
out ventilation,  and  though  they  have  the 
advantage  of  being  cold,  they  are  not  fit 
places  for  human  beings  to  sleep  in.  This 
is  all  very  wrong,  and  superlatively  unneces- 
sary. It  can  be  easily  changed  by  anyone 
wrho  has  the  enterprise  to  recognize  its 
wickedness. 

Many  farmhouses  are  nowadays  within 
reach  of  electric  lighting  systems.  On  a  few 
farms  when  water  power  is  at  hand  private 
generating  plants  may  be  wisely  established. 
In  either  case  the  home  is  entitled  to  the 
benefit  and  convenience  of  the  electric  light. 
Where  electric  lights  are  not  to  be  had, 

190 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

private  gas  plants  can  be  put  in  at  quite 
moderate  expense.  The  total  cost  for  a  good 
gas  lighting  installation  should  be  between 
$150  and  $300;  on  which  the  total  annual 
charge  for  interest,  repairs  and  operation 
will  be  between  $25  and  $50. 

A  furnace  of  any  pattern  can  be  installed 
in  a  farmhouse  exactly  as  well  as  in  a  village 
or  city  dwelling.  Why  is  it,  therefore,  that 
city  houses  are  almost  universally  supplied 
with  them,  while  farmhouses  are  almost 
universally  without?  My  answer  is  that  the 
farmers  have  not  taken  so  much  pains  as  the 
townspeople  to  make  themselves  comforta- 
ble. 

On  any  farm  where  there  is  a  running 
stream  or  a  good  well  the  buildings  may  en- 
joy just  as  good  a  water  supply  as  the  usual 
city  house.  In  a  few  cases  water  may  be 
secured  from  springs  or  streams  by  gravity. 
In  other  cases,  where  the  streams  are  below 
the  level  of  the  house,  the  supply  may  be 
secured  through  the  services  of  the  oft- 
described  and  rarely  seen  hydraulic  ram. 
In  the  large  majority  of  cases,  however,  the 

191 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 


farm  water  supply  will  come  from  a  good 
well.  Everyone  knows  that  this  well  should 
not  be  in  the  barnyard  o;r  where  it  receives 
the  seepage  from  the  privy  and  the  kitchen 
sink.  It  will  be  better,  indeed,  to  have  it  at 


TOWN   HALL,  BRIDGEWATER,  MASS. 

some  distance  from  the  farm  buildings, 
above  them  if  possible,  and  have  the  water 
piped  to  the  house  and  barn.  This  is  en- 
tirely practicable  if  a  good  windmill  or 
gasoline  engine  be  used  to  pump  the  water. 
The  modern  method  of  handling  this  water 
supply  is  through  an  underground  non- 
192 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

freezable  tank,  and  not  through  the  old 
style  inconvenient  freezing  overhead  tank. 
The  water  is  pumped  into  the  underground 
tank  under  pressure,  and  this  air  pressure  is 
sufficient  to  deliver  the  water  wherever  it  is 
desired.  Such  an  arrangement  costs  from 
$100  to  $300,  or  about  the  same  as  the  over- 
head installation,  and  makes  it  possible  to 
have  a  continuous  supply  of  hot  and  cold 
water  in  all  parts  of  the  house,  dairy  or  other 
buildings,  just  as  easily  as  the  same  conveni- 
ences can  be  secured  in  any  city  or  village. 

With  the  installation  of  a  running  water 
supply  will  come  bathtubs  and  modern 
water  closets,  and  these  will  require  some 
species  of  sewage  disposal.  A  drain  from 
the  kitchen  sink  into  the  well  will  no  longer 
be  regarded  as  sufficient  provision  for  the 
farmhouse.  Now,  the  quickest  way  to  dis- 
pose of  the  problem  is  to  run  the  sewage  into 
a  cesspool.  A  good  cesspool,  well  con- 
structed with  proper  overflow,  will  cost 
from  $10  to  $100  on  the  ordinary  farm ;  and 
such  a  system  constitutes  a  very  substantial 
improvement  over  the  usual  inconveniences 

193 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

of  the  farmhouse.  Yet  better  sanitary  facili- 
ties than  these  are  to  be  easily  secured 
through  the  use  of  modern  septic  tanks  or 
through  a  system  of  sewage  disposal  in  un- 
derground tiles.  Detailed  descriptions  of 
such  installations  with  full  directions  for 
doing  the  work  are  to  be  had  in  various 
bulletins.  The  very  best  possible  sewerage 
system  on  the  ordinary  farm  may  be  put  in 
for  the  price  of  one  wagon-load  of  fat  hogs. 
The  home  of  the  prosperous  and  up-to- 
date  farmer  should  also  be  supplied  with 
power,  usually  secured  from  the  electric 
current  or  from  the  ubiquitous  gasoline  en- 
gine. Such  power  may  be  used  for  churn- 
ing, washing,  ironing  and  for  many  other 
purposes  not  yet  clearly  seen;  for  it  is  a  no- 
torious and  scandalous  fact  that  the  im- 
provements in  house  work  on  the  farms  have 
not  kept  pace  with  the  improvements  in 
barn  work.  While  the  drudgery  of  the 
men's  work  has  been  greatly  relieved  in  later 
years  through  the  introduction  of  machin- 
ery, very  little  has  been  done  to  eliminate 
the  drudgery  from  women's  work.  Yet 

194 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

careful  attention  to  this  problem  in  the  light 
of  present  knowledge  will  accomplish  won- 
ders. 

THE  VILLAGE  HOME 

It  has  long  been  the  rule  in  this  country 
for  farmers  to  move  to  town  as  soon  as  the 
stress  of  making  money  and  educating  the 
children  is  over.  It  is  a  bad  rule,  and  one 
which  we  hope  soon  to  see  revoked  or  re- 
versed. It  has  been  founded  on  the  belief— 
to  a  large  extent  erroneous — that  more  of 
the  comforts  and  conveniences  of  life  are  to 
be  secured  in  the  town  than  in  the  country. 

In  exterior  architectural  style  and  dignity 
the  town  house  assuredly  has  not  led  the 
country  house.  During  the  last  half  cen- 
tury the  most  shoddy,  squalid,  vulgar  dwell- 
ing-house architecture  ever  known  since 
men  dwelt  beautifully  in  tents  has  flourished 
in  American  villages  and  suburbs.  The 
great  problem  now  is  the  popularization  of 
saner  and  simpler  styles.  These  are  unques- 
tionably coming  in;  and  it  should  be  a  part 
of  every  improvement  campaign  to  promote 

195 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

the  public  interest  in  better  architecture. 
Though  the  public  is  interested  first  in  the 
external  appearance  of  village  dwelling 
houses,  attention  must  always  be  directed  at 
the  same  time  to  the  improvement  of  inter- 
nal arrangements.  Throughout  these  chap- 
ters we  have  insisted  that  beauty  and  util- 
ity must  travel  hand  in  hand,  and  this  is  cer- 
tainly not  the  place  for  them  to  part  com- 
pany. 

PUBLIC   BUILDINGS 

All  public  buildings  ought  to  be  beauti- 
ful, dignified,  honest  and  well  constructed. 
How  few  of  them  in  our  day  and  place  ful- 
fill these  plain  requirements!  Public  build- 
ings grow  up  through  a  world  of  graft. 
Some  contractor,  making  a  good  thing  for 
himself  and  a  mighty  poor  thing  for  the 
public,  leaves  the  community  disgraced 
with  a  shabby  library.  The  architect  for  the 
court  house  is  chosen,  not  for  his  knowledge 
of  architecture  so  much  as  for  his  knowl- 
edge of  politics.  Somebody  with  a  pull  is 
almost  sure  to  turn  up  in  connection  with 

196 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 


every  public  building.  Even  the  churches 
are  scarcely  honest.  Many  of  them  are  cry- 
ing examples  of  sham  and  shoddy.  Instead 
of  being  community  examples  of  honesty, 
dignity  and  beauty,  they  stand  as  monu- 
ments of  pretentious,  vulgar  ugliness. 


GRANGE  HALL,  NORWAY,  ME. 

Of  course  not  all  public  buildings  are  so 
bad  as  this.  Times  are  improving,  both 
architecturally  and  politically.  Every- 
where we  are  seeing  more  good  school- 
houses,  fine  churches,  excellent  town  halls 
and  county  courthouses,  libraries  and  even 

197 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

railway  stations  in  which  the  country  can 
well  take  pride.  Such  examples  should  be 
greatly  multiplied.  A  good  public  building 
in  any  community  has  an  enormous  influ- 
ence for  good;  it  does  more  perhaps  to  raise 
the  public  taste  than  any  other  lesson  that 
can  be  given.  Conversely,  a  vulgar,  and 
shoddy  public  building  can  have  no  other 
effect  than  to  corrupt  the  public  taste  and  to 
lower  the  whole  tone  of  civic  life  in  the  com- 
munity afflicted  with  it.  No  more  glorious 
testimony  could  be  imagined  to  the  high 
civic  ideals  of  Florence,  Rothenberg,  Brem- 
en and  hundreds  of  other  old  European 
towns  and  cities  than  the  magnificent  pub- 
lic buildings  which  have  come  down  from 
earlier  centuries.  Two  hundred  years  from 
now  how  many  of  our  American  public 
buildings  will  remain?  And  what  will  our 
great-grandchildren  then  think  of  them? 
The  answer  to  these  questions  will  give  us 
a  juster  valuation  of  our  present  civic  work. 
Any  town  or  village  of  fine  civic  spirit 
and  high  ambitions  will  go  still  further  in 
fostering  high  ideals  in  architecture.  Such 

198 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

communities  will  secure  the  benefit  of  good 
design  also  in  shops  and  factories.  The 
usual  country  store,  though  it  may  be,  in 
fact,  the  main  center  of  social  and  political 
life  in  the  small  village,  does  not  present 
the  physical  appearance  to  justify  so  high  a 
calling.  In  England,  Germany,  France  and 
Belgium,  however,  shopkeepers  have  shown 
that  such  little  stores  may  be  gems  of  archi- 
tectural beauty.  Such  buildings  are  good 
advertising,  and  worth  much  more  to  any 
groceryman's  business  than  a  million  square 
yards  of  soap  and  axle  grease  announce- 
ments painted  on  the  country  landscape.  In 
a  few  glad  spots  in  America  the  old  country 
stores  have  been  replaced  by  beautiful  and 
suitable  modern  buildings.  In  a  good 
many  places  factories  have  been  built  hav- 
ing considerable  dignity  and  architectural 
beauty.  A  certain  soap  factory  in  Buffalo, 
for  instance,  has  more  artistic  distinction 
than  many  an  art  museum  or  Carnegie 
library.  These  admirable  beginnings  mark 
the  plain  way  along  which  civic  art  will 
make  its  progress. 

199 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

The  same  spirit  should  extend  at  once  to 
all  other  kinds  of  construction  wherever  the 
work  falls  under  the  public  eye.  Bridges 
ought  to  be  good  looking,  as  well  as  strong 
and  durable.  The  present  vogue  of  cement 
has  done  a  great  deal  to  bring  in  attractive 
bridges  and  to  drive  out  the  peculiarly 
wretched  iron  trusswork  which  has  been 
almost  universal  in  American  bridge  con- 
struction. 

Even  the  small  items  will  be  carefully  re- 
garded in  this  way,  and  the  lamp  posts, 
crossroads  signs  and  rubbish  boxes  will  be 
studied  with  a  view  to  making  them  agree- 
able to  the  eye.  Telephone  and  trolley  poles 
will  be  made  as  inconspicuous  as  possible, 
and  on  occasion  may  appear  to  be  even  orna- 
mental. 

When  we  come  to  public  monuments, 
memorials,  fountains,  etc.,  which  are 
frankly  valued  as  civic  embellishments 
without  utilitarian  excuse,  the  esthetic  test 
ought  to  be  rigorously  applied.  That  is  cer- 
tain. But  how  many  of  our  existing  Amer- 
ican examples  of  public  statuary  and  semi- 
zoo 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 


public  memorials  would  stand  even  .a 
schoolgirl's  test  for  dignity  and  beauty? 
The  usual  soldiers'  monument  is  a  fright, 
and  the  customary  "ornamental"  fountain 
is  a  writhing  heap  of  ugliness.  It  has  been 


COUNTRY    BANK,    HOLLISTER,    MO.      A    BEAUTIFUL    AND    APPRO- 
PRIATE  BUILDING 

a  great  national  misfortune  that  our  crop  of 
soldiers'  and  sailors'  monuments  in  this 
country  was  harvested  in  the  period  just 
following  the  civil  war — that  period  when 
the  public  taste,  like  the  public  morals,  ran 
down  to  the  lowest  possible  ebb.  In  all  the 

20 1 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

states,  North  and  South,  these  soldiers' 
monuments  stand,  fine  reminders  of  the 
loyalty  and  love  which  prompted  them,  but 
awful  examples  of  the  impoverished  taste 
which  could  design  nothing  beautiful  nor 
worthy  of  the  heroic  deeds  yet  to  be  com- 
memorated. Too  many  such  monuments 
have  been  designed  by  the  village  black- 
smith and  the  constable,  or  by  the  board  of 
aldermen.  It  ought  to  be  plain  that  such 
works  of  art  should  be  designed  by  artists; 
and  unless  something  truly  compatible  with 
the  theme  can  be  built,  it  would  be  much 
better  to  go  without  the  statue. 

Perhaps  this  is  the  place  to  say  a  word 
about  temporary  decorations  for  passing 
festivals.  During  old  home  week  the  village 
would  put  on  gala  dress.  Or  "When 
Johnny  comes  marching  home,"  or  the  pop- 
ular politician  is  elected  governor,  or  the 
one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  town  is  to 
be  celebrated,  a  special  effort  will  be  made 
to  have  the  town  look  its  best  and  merriest. 
All  such  undertakings  should  be  put  into  the 
hands  of  a  small  committee,  preferably  not 

202 


RURAL  ARCHITECTURE 

more  than  three  to  five,  including  men  and 
women  of  education  and  taste,  and  a  unified 
scheme  of  decoration  carried  out  under 
their  strict  direction.  If  a  professional  dec- 
orator can  be  employed,  so  much  the  better 
-and  cheaper.  When  the  decorations  are 
left  to  the  personal  initiative  of  each  indi- 
vidual citizen  the  result  is  scattering,  in- 
harmonious and  trivial,  while  the  entire  cost 
is  likely  to  be  greater  than  when  the  work  is 
all  in  the  hands  of  one  experienced  man. 

It  is  everywhere  recognized  to  be  the 
common  fault  of  American  civil  and  politi- 
cal life  that  people  disregard  the  services 
of  experts.  In  architecture,  statuary  and  art 
matters  generally,  the  need  of  expert  help  is 
peculiarly  plain.  Here  is  the  point  at  which 
better  methods  can  be  most  easily  intro- 
duced. 


The  incessant  and  increasing  duties  of 
farm  life  leave  one,  however  well  disposed, 
but  little  time  and  but  scant  strength  for 
esthetic  study.  The  farmhouse  is  the  cen- 
ter of  the  home  life  and  of  the  homely 
thought  and  feeling  of  its  inmates.  The 
farm  on  which  one  has  been  born  and  bred 
is  the  center  and  standpoint  from  which  he 
regards  the  world  without.  All  those  more 
tender  emotions  which  are  common  to  our 
nature,  and  which  attach  themselves  to  the 
home,  find  their  development  on  the  farm 
as  well  as  in  the  town.  Sentimentally  con- 
sidered, it  matters  little  whether  the  object 
of  these  emotions  be  on  the  farm,  in  the 
wilderness,  in  the  village,  or  in  the  city. 
Fortunately,  man  is  by  no  means  a  creature 
of  emotion  alone;  and  the  satisfaction  and 
good  of  living  are  less  a  matter  of  feeling 
than  of  activity,  industry  and  intelligence. 
The  place  in  which  one  lives  is  more  or  less 
satisfactory  in  proportion  as  it  facilitates 
and  encourages  the  better  and  more  useful 
living. 

GEO.  E.  WARING,  JR., 

"Farm  Villages." 


204 


CHAPTER  XI 
INCIDENTAL  PROBLEMS 

THE  problems  of  civic  improvement 
have  been  dealt  with  in  a  somewhat  sys- 
tematic manner  in  the  foregoing  chapters. 
For  the  most  part  these  problems  have  been 
related  to  large  general  principles.  There 
remain,  however,  some  incidental  smaller 
problems  which  need  to  be  spoken  of,  and 
which  can  be  most  conveniently  treated  by 
grouping  them  together  in  this  chapter. 
Those  which  we  shall  speak  of  here  are 
school  grounds,  cemeteries,  trolley  stations, 
rest  rooms  and  nuisances. 

SCHOOL  GROUNDS 

Every  local  community  takes  special  in- 
terest in  the  schoolhouse  and  grounds.  It  is 
because  these  are  universally  recognized  as 
public  property.  It  is  everywhere  under- 
stood, further,  that  these  schoolhouses  and 

205 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


grounds  are  not  all  they  ought  to  be,  and 
the  fact  that  nearly  every  neighborhood  is 
sincerely  ashamed  of  the  squalid  conditions 
of  school  premises  is  in  itself  evidence  of 
higher  ideals.  Whenever  anyone  says  a 
word  for  the  improvement  of  schoolhouse 


SCHOOLHOUSE  WITHOUT   PLANTINGS   OR   OTHER    IMPROVEMENT 

or  school  grounds  his  suggestions  meet  an 
immediate  response  from  all  the  neighbors. 
With  this  firmly  established  sympathy,  the 
conditions  at  the  various  country  schools 
certainly  ought  to  be  better  than  they  are. 
Obviously  the,  country  people  need  to  be 
aroused  on  .this  subject,  and  particularly 

206 


INCIDENTAL   PROBLEMS 

they  need  someone  to  take  the  lead  in  bring- 
ing about  better  conditions. 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  and  written 
about  the  beautification  of  school  grounds. 
This  has  meant  chiefly  the  planting  of  trees 
and  shrubbery,  and  in  extreme  cases  the  de- 
velopment of  flower  gardens.  Unfortunately 
this  enthusiasm  has  run  chiefly  to  talk  and 
only  in  rare  instances  has  come  down  to 
actual  practice.  Tree  planting  is  under- 
taken more  or  less  systematically  on  arbor 
days.  This  is  a  pleasant  custom.  Arbor  day 
ought  to  be  annually  celebrated  with  suit- 
able festivities.  There  should  be  attractive 
programs  and  a  well-organized  social  meet- 
ing, including  the  parents  and  patrons  of  the 
school.  The  social  program  ought  not  to 
be  allowed  to  crowd  out  the  tree-planting 
feature,  for  there  should  be  substantial, 
practical  accomplishment  in  this  line  on 
every  arbor  day.  Not  only  should  trees  be 
planted,  but  shrubs  and  other  things  also. 
There  should  be  older  trees,  which  will  re- 
quire pruning;  and  tree  pruning,  spraying, 
repairing  and  fertilizing  are  just  as  appro- 

207 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

priate  to  arbor  day  as  tree  planting  itself. 
In  fact,  the  purposes  of  the  program  should 
be  broadened  to  cover  all  the  life  and  care 
of  trees  rather  than  being  confined  to  the 
mere  incident  of  planting. 

In  most  of  the  small  publications  on  this 
subject,  there  are  more  or  less  elaborate 
plans  shown  for  the  development  of  school 
grounds.  Most  of  these  are  suggestive  and 
good.  It  is  still  very  rare,  however,  to  find 
a  school  ground  which  has  been  developed 
according  to  any  definite  plan.  On  most 
small  grounds,  it  is  obvious  that  any  elabo- 
rate landscape  gardener's  design  would  be  of 
little  use.  In  a  rough,  general  way,  wre  may 
say  that  a  border  of  trees  and  shrubs  along 
the  boundary  of  the  grounds  will  constitute 
the  only  important  plantings.  Unless  the 
grounds  are  above  the  average  size,  it  will 
hardly  be  advisable  to  use  any  part  of  the 
remaining  space  except  for  play.  By  all 
odds,  the  most  important  feature  in  school 
grounds  development  is  the  simple,  syste- 
matic arrangement  on  orderly  lines  of  the 
few  necessary  furnishings.  If  there  is  a 

208 


INCIDENTAL   PROBLEMS 


fence,  it  should  be  straight;  if  there  is  a 
gate,  it  should  hang  on  its  hinges;  if  there 
are  trees,  they  should  be  in  straight  rows; 
if  there  is  a  row  of  trees,  they  should  be  all 
of  the  same  kind;  if  there  are  shrubs,  they 


SCHOOLHOUSE    WITH    APPROPRIATE    PLANTINGS— CORNELL 
UNIVERSITY  GROUNDS 

should  be  in  straight  hedge  rows  or  in  com- 
pact masses;  if  there  are  privies  and  other 
outbuildings,  they  should  be  set  on  the 
boundary  lines  and  in  proper  alignment 
with  the  main  building;  if  walks  are  built, 

209 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

they  should  be  direct  and  should  be  kept 
clean  and  properly  edged ;  if  there  is  a  lawn, 
it  should  be  kept  clean.  These  things  are 
far  more  important  than  a  landscape  plan 
or  any  botanical  collection  of  plants. 

The  school  grounds  require  not  only  a 
neat  and  orderly  arrangement  of  the  origi- 
nal materials,  but  they  require  the  still  more 
important  element  of  care.  Most  cases  of 
disheartening  squalor  which  one  finds  on 
school  grounds  are  due  merely  to  the  fact 
that  no  care  is  given.  The  place  must  be 
kept  clean  and  tidy.  This  may  be  easily 
accomplished  providing  the  school  has  an 
energetic  teacher  and  the  teacher  has  the 
sympathy  and  support  of  the  parents  and 
patrons.  No  appropriations  of  money  are 
necessary — the  teacher  and  pupils  can  do 
all  the  work  that  is  required  to  keep  any 
school  grounds  in  order. 

In  connection  with  the  schools  and  school 
grounds,  other  similar  problems  are  arising, 
especially  in  more  progressive  communi- 
ties. It  is  found  that  other  civic  needs  may 
be  supplied  and  that  the  public  property 

210 


INCIDENTAL  PROBLEMS 

delegated  for  this  purpose  can  best  be  cen- 
tered about  the  schoolhouse.  In  some  rural 
communities,  country  life  has  developed  so 
far  already  as  to  provide  civic  centers, 
which  are  merely  groupings  of  community 
interests.  At  such  centers,  one  will  find  the 
public  schoolhouse  (usually  a  centralized 
school),  public  playgrounds,  experimental 
grounds,  and  sometimes  the  churches  and 
grange  halls.  The  location  of  these  build- 
ings in  a  group  of  this  sort  is  highly  to  be 
commended.  It  amounts  to  the  same  thing 
in  the  neighborhood  planning  which  the 
centralization  of  farm  buildings  means  in 
farm  planning.  When  the  public  buildings 
are  scattered  all  over  the  township,  there  is 
the  same  unfortunate  dispersion  of  business 
which  results  when  the  farm  buildings  are 
scattered  all  over  the  farm. 

Suitable  playgrounds  are  particularly 
needed  in  all  country  districts,  and  naturally 
and  almost  necessarily  are  located  with  the 
public  schools.  Such  playgrounds  should 
contain  always  a  baseball  diamond,  some- 
times a  football  field,  usually  provisions  for 

211 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

basket  ball,  in  thickly  settled  neighborhoods 
should  contain  tennis  courts,  should  have 
some  special  playground  apparatus  for  the 
use  of  small  children,  and  if  possible  should 
have  provisions  for  skating  in  winter.  The 
equipment  for  small  children  is  now  sup- 
plied at  moderate  prices  at  many  large  man- 
ufacturers' and  some  of  this  apparatus  may 
fairly  be  called  indispensable.  If  the  play- 
ground is  not  for  the  small  children,  what, 
indeed,  is  it  for? 

School  gardens  and  experimental  grounds 
are  now  being  undertaken  by  some  of  the 
more  progressive  country  schools.  There 
can  be  no  difference  of  opinion  about  the  de- 
sirability of  such  improvements  in  any 
neighborhood  where  they  can  be  reasonably 
well  supported.  It  may  be  well  to  enter 
here  a  word  of  caution  to  prevent  failure 
from  over-enthusiasm.  Such  school  gardens 
and  experimental  grounds  need  not  and 
should  not  be  so  large  and  elaborate  as  the 
experiment  grounds  of  a  state  experiment 
station.  The  experiments  must  be  really 
very  minor  demonstrations,  undertaken  on 

212 


a  small  scale  chiefly  for  the  benefit  of  the 
school  children.  A  plot  of  land  20  feet 
square,  well  cared  for,  will  be  much  more 
valuable  than  20  acres  well  neglected. 
There  are  very  few  schools  which  can  give 
sufficient  care  to  more  than  a  quarter  of  an 


AN   ATTRACTIVE   COMMON,   AMHERST,   MASS. 

acre.  Probably  the  usual  area  will  have  to 
be  even  less.  If  the  school  experiment 
grounds  go  above  half  an  acre,  it  will  usu- 
ally be  necessary  to  hire  outside  help  for 
their  maintenance,  and  as  soon  as  that  is 

213 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

done,    the    limit    of    usefulness    has    been 
reached. 

CEMETERIES 

The  public  cemeteries  have  been  referred 
to  already  in  the  chapter  on  public  grounds. 
It  seems  proper,  however,  to  add  a  word  or 
two  on  this  subject  here.  It  is  a  matter  of 
public  knowledge  and  almost  of  public  scan- 
dal that  cemeteries  in  general  are  shame- 
lessly neglected.  The  remedy  for  this  is  not 
the  discovery  of  any  artistic  design,  but  the 
enforcement  of  plain,  ordinary  principles 
of  housekeeping.  If  people  will  not  adopt 
the  cremation  plan,  which  is  altogether  bet- 
ter from  every  standpoint,  they  should  at 
least  keep  the  cemeteries  in  presentable  con- 
dition. 

Something  can  be  gained,  however,  in  the 
matter  of  the  primary  design.  Most  ceme- 
teries are  dreary  and  repulsive  merely  in  the 
matter  of  arrangement.  A  dreary  plain  is 
usually  chosen  as  the  cemetery  site,  chiefly, 
as  I  am  told,  because  the  digging  is  easier 
there.  If  pleasant  undulating  ground,  well 

214 


INCIDENTAL  PROBLEMS 

furnished  with  trees,  could  be  chosen,  the 
premises  would  always  be  more  pleasant, 
restful  and  attractive.  It  would  seem  as 
though  graves  placed  beneath  the  shade  of 
well-grown  woods  were  always  more 
properly  situated  than  those  on  an  open 
sandy  territory  out  in  the  blazing  sun.  And 
yet  it  is  not  once  in  a  thousand  times  that 
we  ever  see  interments  made  in  this  manner. 
There  are  a  few  instances,  mostly  of  expen- 
sive city  cemeteries,  where  attractive  scen- 
ery has  been  used  or  developed,  and  where 
the  cemetery  comes  to  be  a  beautiful  park. 
Such  a  treatment  of  the  cemetery  problem, 
however,  seems  to  be  especially  appropriate 
to  the  country,  and  as  there  are  positively 
no  objections  to  it,  it  may  be  confidently 
urged. 

TROLLEY   STATIONS 

i  •>. 

In  another  chapter,  something  has  been 
said  about  the  development  of  trolley  sta- 
tions. We  have  seen  that  they  serve  much 
the  same  purposes  now  served  by  the  rail- 
way stations.  They  are  the  entrance  gates 

2*5- 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


to  the  villages.  Thousands  of  trolley  sta- 
tions must  be  built  in  the  next  few  years,  and 
it  is  highly  important  that  they  should  be 
wisely  located,  decently  designed,  and  well 
built  In  connection  with  such  trolley  sta- 


TROLLEY    STATION,    MASSACHUSETTS    AGRICULTURAL    COLLEGE 

tions,  other  minor  public  services  should  be 
developed  in  certain  cases.  For  instance, 
many  of  the  trolley  lines  are  used  for  freight 
and  express  shipments.  Especially  where 
the  shipment  of  milk  is  an  important  item 
these  trolley  stations  should  make  some  pro- 

216 


INCIDENTAL  PROBLEMS 

vision  for  this  traffic.  In  other  words,  the 
station  should  contain  suitable  room  for  the 
storage  of  milk  cans  or  other  materials 
which  have  to  be  handled. 

In  a  great  many  cases,  the  trolley  station 
will  offer  the  most  practicable  opportunity 
for  the  installation  of  a  public  comfort 
room,  a  convenience  sadly  needed  in  most  of 
our  towns  and  villages.  Where  drainage 
facilities  are  suitable  and  water  supply  and 
sewage  connections  convenient,  the  best  way 
is  to  have  such  public  comfort  stations  be- 
low the  ground  level,  forming  thus  a  sort 
of  cellar  to  the  trolley  station.  In  many 
instances,  however,  such  an  arrangement  is 
impracticable,  and  then  the  necessary  con- 
veniences may  be  arranged  in  a  separate 
room  on  the  same  level  as  the  waiting  room. 

REST  ROOMS 

Somewhat  in  the  same  line  is  the  plan  of 
the  village  rest  room,  now  being  developed 
in  many  places,  especially  in  the  central 
western  states.  Every  progressive  town  has 

217 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

found  it  highly  desirable  to  cater  to  the 
needs  of  the  visitors  from  the  farming  dis- 
tricts. In  this  way  such  rest  rooms  are  usu- 
ally provided  with  special  reference  to  the 
needs  of  women  and  children.  There  are 
bathroom  conveniences,  and  frequently  also 


REST  ROOM,  LUVERNE,  MINN 

cooking  conveniences  where  a  cup  of  tea  can 
be  made  or  a  pot  of  coffee  warmed.  Re- 
ports agree  most  unanimously  to  the  effect 
that  where  such  rest  rooms  have  been  estab- 
lished and  reasonably  well  managed,  they 
have  been  very  popular.  The  whole  scheme 

218 


INCIDENTAL  PROBLEMS 

is  so  simple,  easy  and  inexpensive  that  it  is 
hard  to  explain  why  it  has  not  been  more 
generally  adopted. 

NUISANCES 

In  keeping  any  community  up  to  its  best, 
there  occasionally  arise  problems  in  the  sup- 
pression of  nuisances.  In  fact,  there  are 
certain  features  of  our  civilization  which 
naturally  tend  to  become  nuisances,  and 
which  have  to  be  checked  in  every  locality, 
and  which  sometimes  have  to  be  dealt  with 
by  most  vigorous  means.  One  of  the  most 
common  of  these  is  the  advertising  nuisance. 
Patent  medicine  advertising,  liquor  adver- 
tising, and  corset  advertising  are  permitted 
to  cover  the  face  of  the  landscape.  These 
are  sometimes  excused  as  being  necessary 
to  the  promotion  of  business.  This  excuse 
is  wholly  worthless  and  ridiculous — no 
legitimate  business  needs  this  kind  of  ad- 
vertising or  indeed  thrives  by  it.  Advertis- 
ing in  itself  is  thoroughly  sound  business, 
but  in  order  to  serve  its  purpose,  it  must 
219 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

please  the  people  whom  it  reaches.  The 
moment  it  becomes  offensive  to  them,  it  has 
lost  its  business  utility. 

A  good  deal  has  been  written  as  to  the 
best  ways  of  dealing  with  this  advertising 
nuisance.  It  has  been  found  that  any  com- 
munity which  judiciously  and  vigorously 
sets  about  it  can  do  away  with  its  bill  boards. 
The  women's  clubs  have  managed  many 
successful  campaigns  of  this  sort.  In  gen- 
eral the  best  way  to  combat  this  evil  is 
through  legislation,  and  the  best  legislative 
means  is  through  heavy  excise  taxes  on  bill- 
board advertising.  Happily  the  trouble  is 
much  less  in  rural  districts  than  in  cities,  but 
at  the  same  time  it  is  a  more  conspicuous 
evil  in  the  country  than  in  the  city.  Every- 
thing should  be  done  at  all  times  to  rid  the 
country  of  every  form  of  landscape  adver- 
tising. 

Trolley,  telephone  and  electric  light 
wires  also  tend  to  become  a  public  nuisance. 
They  clutter  up  the  public  highways,  some- 
times becoming  truly  dangerous,  always 
forming  a  serious  detriment  to  the  land- 

220 


scape.  Wires  carrying  electricity  are  always 
dangerous  put  near  trees,  and  in  the  last 
few  years  have  killed  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  the  best  street  trees  in  the  country.  They 
should  be  constantly  looked  after  to  prevent 
injuries  of  this  kind,  but  as  far  as  possible 
the  policy  should  be  to  keep  all  such  wires 
out  of  the  public  highways.  The  proper 
location  for  telephone,  telegraph  and  elec- 
tric light  wires  is  positively  not  in  the  high- 
ways, but  in  the  alleys  and  along  back 
boundaries  of  lots.  In  closely  settled  vil- 
lages, these  wires  should  be  carried  under- 
ground or  along  the  tops  of  buildings.  A 
great  deal  can  be  done  by  intelligent  plan- 
ning and  by  vigorous  campaigns  toward  the 
reduction  of  the  wire  nuisance. 

While  the  advertising  nuisance  and  the 
wire  nuisance  just  mentioned  are  the  most 
serious  ones  in  the  country,  neither  one  of 
these  comes  under  the  legal  definition  of  the 
term.  The  law  recognizes  certain  public 
nuisances  \vhich  may  be  abated  through  the 
action  of  the  courts.  Fortunately  we  have 
very  few  such  problems  to  deal  with  in  the 

221 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

country.  It  is  a  curious,  significant  and 
illustrative  example  which  we  find  in  some 
of  the  prohibition  states  where  local  rum 
holes  have  been  abolished  under  the  nui- 
sance laws.  This  shows  that  the  community 
can  protect  itself  against  every  kind  of  pub- 
lic damage.  No  man,  woman  or  corpora- 
tion will  be  permitted  to  injure  the  people 
at  large  without  due  redress,  no  matter 
what  the  nature  of  the  difficulty  may  be. 
The  rights  of  the  community  are  so  well 
established  that  they  may  take  the  matter 
into  their  hands  and  remove  the  source  of 
trouble. 


222 


Can  nothing  be  done  to  preserve  for  the 
use  and  enjoyment  of  the  great  unorganized 
body  of  the  common  people  some  fine  parts, 
at  least,  of  this  seaside  wilderness  of  Maine? 
It  would  seem  as  if  the  mere  self-interest  of 
hotel  proprietors  and  landowners  would 
have  accomplished  much  more  in  this  direc- 
tion than  it  yet  has.  If,  for  instance,  East 
Point  near  York,  or  Dice's  Head  at  Gas- 
tine,  or  Great  Head  near  Bar  Harbor 
should  be  fenced  off  as  private  property,  all 
the  other  property  owners  of  the  neighbor- 
hood would  have  to  subtract  something 
from  the  value  of  their  estates.  And,  con- 
versely, if  these  or  other  like  points  of  van- 
tage, or  any  of  the  ancient  border  forts,  were 
preserved  to  public  uses  by  local  associa- 
tions or  by  the  commonwealth,  every  estate 
and  every  form  of  property  in  the  neighbor- 
hood would  gain  in  value.  Public-spirited 
men  would  doubtless  give  to  such  associa- 
tions rights  of  way,  and  even  lands  occa- 
sionally, and  the  raising  of  money  for  the 
purchase  of  favorite  points  might  not  prove 
to  be  so  difficult  as  at  first  it  seems. 

CHARLES  ELIOT, 
Landscape  Architect. 


223 


CHAPTER  XII 
IMPROVEMENT   PROGRAMS 

COMMUNITY  improvement  begins 
with  personal  leadership.  Unless 
there  is  some  man  or  woman,  or  some  group 
of  persons,  who  can  really  exercise  the  facul- 
ties and  responsibilities  of  leadership,  noth- 
ing whatever  can  be  accomplished.  No 
amount  of  imported  talent,  of  outside  in- 
fluence or  of  donated  money  can  move  any 
neighborhood,  village  or  city  forward  with- 
out this  primary  requisite  of  leaders  perma- 
nently identified  with  the  community. 
How  are  such  leaders  to  be  supplied 
to  communities  which  do  not  have  them? 
And  how  shall  leadership  be  developed  in 
communities  where  it  is  now  latent? 
These  are  distinctly  vital  questions,  but 
they  hardly  belong  in  the  realm  of 
civic  art.  For  our  purposes  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  assume  the  presence  of  live  per- 

224 


sonal  leaders  in  every  neighborhood  where 
systematic  improvement  work  is  to  be  un- 
dertaken; but  we  must  recognize  the  funda- 
mental necessity  of  this  personal  beginning 
point,  and  not  make  the  foolish  mistake  of 
thinking  that  any  scheme  of  physical  bet- 
terments will  run  itself. 

Given,  therefore,  a  competent  human 
leadership,  community  improvement  in- 
volves four  somewhat  distinct  phases,  and 
the  work  will  progress  much  more  satisfac- 
torily if  these  different  steps  follow  one  an- 
other in  logical  order.  They  are: 

1.  The  survey. 

2.  The  plan. 

3.  The  organization  and  execution. 

4.  Maintenance. 

Let  us  now  consider  these  different  phases 
in  some  detail  in  order  to  see  our  way  clear 
with  the  whole  serious  business  of  neighbor- 
hood development. 

THE  SURVEY 

Every  general  undertaking  for  the  im- 
provement of  any  neighborhood,  be  it  farm 

225 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

ing  district,  country  village  or  modern  city, 
should  begin  upon  the  basis  of  a  logical 
plan,  and  a  logical  plan  can  be  made  only 
on  the  basis  of  a  careful  survey.  Such  a  sur- 
vey and  such  a  plan  should  be  made  by  an 
expert,  and  it  is  usually  important  that  the 
expert  making  the  survey  and  plan  be  not  a 
resident  of  the  community.  Local  preju- 
dices often  work  havoc  with  sound  neigh- 
borhood planning;  and,  furthermore,  any 
man  who  is  a  resident  of  a  particular  neigh 
borhood  or  village  and  accustomed  to  its 
various  aspects  is  generally  blind  to  many 
obvious  faults  and  is  sure  to  overlook  plain 
opportunities  of  improvement. 

Elsewhere  we  have  given  some  emphasis 
to  the  principle  that  community  improve- 
ment enterprises  should  be  unified,  and  have 
deprecated  the  very  common  mistake  of 
separating  physical  betterment,  economic 
improvement  and  social  reform.  This 
highly  valuable  co-operation  of  effort 
should  begin  with  the  survey.  Let  us  sug- 
gest it,  therefore,  in  our  outline  showing 
how  these  problems  are  to  be  taken  up. 

226 


IMPROVEMENT  PROGRAMS 

THE   COMMUNITY   SURVEY 

1.  Physical  resources  and  needs,  including  such  items 

as  roads,  public  buildings,  commons,  parks, 
playgrounds,  scenery,  street  trees,  etc. — in  fact, 
all  the  materials  of  civic  art,  every  physical 
thing  which  is  to  be  touched  by  a  campaign  for 
civic  improvement. 

2.  Economic  resources,  conditions  and  needs,  cover- 

ing the  agricultural  and  other  industries  and  the 
means  of  their  improvement. 

3.  Social    resources   and   needs,    such    as    educational 

facilities,  churches,  libraries,  granges  and  other 
organizations  of  all  sorts. 

As  we  shall  be  obliged  to  forego  any  de- 
tailed study  of  the  economic  and  social  prob- 
lems here  introduced,  we  may  be  justified 
in  giving  them  a  brief  word  or  two  before 
dismissing  them. 

Personal  leadership  aside,  the  success  of 
any  plan  of  community  betterment  rests 
upon  the  economic  basis.  No  improve- 
ments of  consequence  can  be  made  unless 
the  community  is  prosperous,  unless  indus- 
try yields  more  than  a  niggardly  subsistence 
to  the  people.  Thus  in  a  farming  commu- 
nity the  first  undertaking  must  be  to  improve 
the  agriculture.  As  soon  as  the  farmers 
begin  to  find  life  easier  it  will  be  possible 
for  them  to  talk  of  playgrounds  for  the  chil- 

227 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

dren,  of  better  schools,  of  libraries,  and  of 
better  preachers  in  the  churches. 

Now,  the  means  of  economic  improve- 
ment in  agriculture  are  very  well  known 
and  very  well  organized.  They  center 


A    BIT    OF    PLEASANT    RURAL    ROADSIDE    SCENERY 

round  the  state  agricultural  colleges,  the  ex- 
periment stations  and  the  state  boards  of 
agriculture.  (I  do  not  mention  the  grange 
because  I  believe  its  influence  to  be  prima- 
rily social  rather  than  economic.)  The 
agricultural  survey  of  any  section  should 

228 


IMPROVEMENT  PROGRAMS 

be  made  by  the  experts  of  the  agricultural 
college  or  under  their  direction,  and  the 
subsequent  plan  for  economic  improvement 
should  come  from  the  same  source.  An 
enormous  amount  of  work  has  already  been 
done  by  colleges,  experiment  stations  and 
boards  of  agriculture  in  fostering  agricul- 
tural improvement  of  all  sorts,  but  the  thing 
which  has  not  been  done,  and  which  cries 
from  the  street  corners  to  be  done,  is  to  give 
individual  communities  broad,  careful, 
sympathetic,  expert  study,  suggesting  gen- 
eral plans  of  economic  organization  and 
progress.  There  are  hundreds  of  commu- 
nities, rural  and  suburban,  in  which  the  in- 
dustries need  to  be  completely  reorganized 
and  put  upon  a  new  track;  and  such  read- 
justments would  be  acceptable  anywhere. 
Very  roughly  indicated,  such  a  survey 
might  find  in  a  particular  community  a 
large  area  of  land  adapted  to  fruit  growing, 
but  without  the  skill,  the  experience,  the 
capital  or  the  organization  to  develop  this 
resource.  The  expert  and  disinterested  out- 
side adviser  might  plan  for  a  demonstration 

229 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

orchard  and  a  local  horticultural  school  to 
develop  the  knowledge  of  fruit  growing;  he 
might  propose  and  possibly  secure  the  es- 
tablishment of  local  banking  facilities  for 
making  capital  more  available;  and  finally 
he  might  outline  and  possibly  assist  in  the 
formation  of  a  local  fruit  growers'  organi- 
zation which  could  develop  a  successful 
market. 

Farm  industries  change  very  slowly  and 
are  notoriously  hard  to  reorganize.  For 
this  reason  there  are  thousands  of  neighbor- 
hoods where  present  farm  practice  is  badly 
adapted  to  present  conditions.  One  com- 
munity is  making  market  milk  and  shipping 
it  200  miles  at  a  loss.  Another  section  con- 
tinues to  grow  coarse  grain  crops  long  after 
the  expansion  of  near-by  cities  offers  a 
profitable  market  for  the  products  of  more 
intensive  farming.  Such  general  problems 
as  these  should  be  studied  in  the  economic 
survey;  and  this  work,  if  done  by  competent 
men,  should  result  in  definite  and  service- 
able plans  for  community  advance  along  in- 
dustrial lines. 

230 


IMPROVEMENT  PROGRAMS 

In  villages  and  cities  other  industries  be- 
sides agriculture  have  to  be  considered,  and 
the  inter-relation  of  divers  industries  comes 
to  be  of  great  significance.  This  may  make 
the  industrial  branch  of  the  survey  more 
difficult,  but  it  renders  it  even  more  impor- 
tant. The  general  methods  of  procedure 
will  be  the  same  as  already  outlined. 

What  we  have  said  as  to  the  economic  sur- 
vey and  plan  needs  very  little  translation 
to  make  it  intelligible  in  the  social  world. 
The  opportunities  here  are  quite  as  large, 
and  the  needs  as  urgent.  For,  as  no  im- 
provement can  begin  except  on  the  founda- 
tion of  economic  prosperity,  so  no  real  ad- 
vance can  continue  without  social  efficiency. 
If  the  community  is  socially  sterile,  no  in- 
crease in  the  production  of  potatoes  or  the 
price  of  pork  will  ever  save  it.  In  Ameri- 
can experience  we  have  repeatedly  met  this 
sobering  fact,  that  families  leave  their  farms 
as  soon  as  they  become  prosperous.  The 
kernel  of  the  whole  rural  problem,  as  it  has 
been  clearly  stated  by  President  Kenyon  L. 
Butterfield,  is  to  maintain  happy  and  effi- 

231 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

cient  families  upon  the  farms.  There  must, 
therefore,  be  made  a  social  survey;  and  on 
the  foundation  of  such  an  investigation,  the 
whole  social  structure  should  be  rebuilt 
according  to  a  well-considered,  scientific, 
modern  plan. 

The  social  survey  will  ascertain  the  school 
population  and  compare  it  with  the  school 
facilities;  it  will  enumerate  the  churches 
and  learn  what  they  are  doing  for  the  com- 
munity; it  will  look  to  libraries  and  clubs; 
in  every  rural  neighborhood  it  will  try  to 
find  a  live  grange  active  in  all  economic, 
educational  and  social  enterprises;  it  will 
take  account  of  other  organizations — lodges, 
women's  clubs,  farmers'  institutes,  boys'  and 
girls'  clubs — in  short,  every  group  in  which 
the  social  instinct  of  the  people  has  mani- 
fested itself. 

The  social  expert  will  find  it  easy  to  point 
out  possible  improvements  in  most  neigh- 
borhoods. A  consolidation  of  churches  is 
so  much  needed  in  many  places  that  present 
conditions  are  recognized  as  a  public  scan- 
dal. In  some  places  there  are  too  many 

232 


IMPROVEMENT   PROGRAMS 


lodges,  guilds,  clubs  and  committees.  Social 
simplification  would  do  wonders  for  some 
communities.  In  other  places,  more  often 
in  rural  neighborhoods,  an  occasional  new 


organization  would  be  very  useful.  Rural 
districts  especially  lack  organizations  for 
the  benefit  of  women  and  boys — perhaps  for 
girls.  A  good  woman's  literary  or  domestic 
arts  club  would  be  a  boon  to  many  a  coun- 

233 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

tryside.  We  might  even  tolerate  a  suffra- 
gist propaganda  if  it  would  get  the  women 
out  of  their  tiresome  kitchens  and  lead  them 
together  in  friendly  social  intercourse.  Sim- 
ilarly a  club  for  the  big  boys  would  solve 
some  of  the  knottiest  neighborhood  prob- 
lems. Such  a  club  might  promote  baseball, 
rowing,  competitive  swimming,  horse  rac- 
ing and  trap  shooting  in  the  summer,  and 
snow  shoeing,  hunting  and  basket  ball  in  the 
winter.  Should  the  big  boys'  club  occasion- 
ally invite  the  big  girls'  club  to  a  sleigh  ride 
no  great  harm  would  follow. 

We  have  dwelt  thus  at  some  length  on  the 
economic  and  social  aspects  of  these  ques- 
tions because  no  program  of  improvement 
devoted  exclusively  to  physical  problems 
(as  commonly  understood  in  the  term  vil- 
lage improvement)  can  get  very  far.  Physi- 
cal, economic  and  social  problems  are 
vitally  inter-related.  In  neither  field  can 
much  progress  be  made  while  the  other 
fields  are  neglected.  A  church  revival  can- 
not accomplish  its  whole  purpose  unless  ac- 
companied by  street  cleaning,  and  the  em- 

234 


IMPROVEMENT   PROGRAMS 

bellishment  of  front  yards  is  hardly  worth 
while  unless  the  home  life  is  equally  em- 
bellished with  good  thoughts  and  acts  of 
social  kindness.  Every  community  there- 
fore must  be  studied  as  a  whole,  and  an  im- 
provement program  must  cover  all  its  needs. 
Returning  now  to  the  field  of  civic  art, 
where  our  immediate  interests  center,  let  us 
consider  more  in  detail  the  proposed  sur- 
vey. The  civic  artist,  going  into  any  neigh- 
borhood for  his  professional  work  will  be- 
gin by  a  detailed  examination  of  the  physi- 
cal resources.  The  usual  matters  of  study 
will  be  the  following: 

1.  Roads.     Street  plan    (see  page  38),  condition  of 

the  roads,  road  building  (page  44). 

2.  Street  trees  (page  58). 

3.  Town  commons  and  local  parks   (page  113). 

4.  Picnic  grounds,  scenery  reservations  and   scenic 

roads   (page  103) . 
<:.  Playgrounds  (page  115). 

6.  Schoolhouses  and  grounds    (page  109). 

7.  Civic  centers   (page  83). 

8.  Public  buildings  (page  196). 

9.  Churches,  church  grounds,  cemeteries  (page  in). 

10.  Architectural      conditions,      including     factories, 

private  dwellings,  etc.   (page  181). 

11.  Private  grounds  (page  122). 

12.  Railway  stations  and  grounds   (page  21). 

13.  Trollev    entrances    and    trolley    waiting    stations 

(page  26). 

14.  General  maintenance   (page  239). 

235 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

THE  PLAN 

After  checking  over  this  list  the  civic  sur- 
veyor is  able  to  see  very  clearly  what  the 
specific  needs  of  the  district  are — the  acqui- 
sition of  a  beautiful  lake,  the  building  of 
trolley  waiting  stations,  the  extension  of  the 
school  grounds,  better  care  of  street  trees, 
etc.  Knowing  these,  he  can  usually  sug- 
gest means  by  which  the  needs  can  be  even- 
tually satisfied. 

The  man  making  the  survey  should  then 
make  a  full  report  to  the  community.  In 
it  he  should  first  enumerate  and  discuss  all 
the  good  things  in  the  town  or  district  (it 
is  more  important  for  the  community  to 
realize  its  good  points  than  its  defects)  ; 
second,  he  should  point  out  the  deficiencies, 
with  special  suggestions  for  their  correc- 
tion; and,  lastly,  he  should  recommend  gen- 
eral policies  and  forms  of  organization  or 
administration  likely  to  bring  better  results 
in  the  future. 

Especially  in  cases  where  civic  art  can  be 
combined,  as  it  always  ought  to  be,  with 
economic  advance  and  social  reform,  there 

236 


IMPROVEMENT   PROGRAMS 

should  be  prepared  a  definite  program  of 
community  betterments.  When  the  list  of 
desirable  improvements  has  been  duly  stud- 
ied, verified  and  checked  off,  each  approved 
item  should  be  given  a  date  representing  the 
time  at  which  it  is  expected  the  specific  im- 
provement can  be  accomplished.  These  can 
then  all  be  arranged  in  a  chronological 
order.  Such  a  program  would  look  some- 
thing like  the  following: 

IMPROVEMENT  PROGRAM 

FOR  THE  TOWN  OF  FREEBURG 

NOTE. — This  imaginary  town  is  supposed  to  cover  25 
square  miles,  to  contain  one  small  village,  to  have  a  total 
population  of  3,000;  to  have  one  railroad  and  two  trolley 
lines,  and  to  be  devoted  chiefly  to  diversified  agriculture. 

FOR  THE  YEAR   1915 

1.  Organize    a    local    federation   for   community   betterment 

(see  page  9). 

2.  Reorganize  the  grange   (supposing  it  to  be  dormant)   and 

intensify  its  work,  giving  special  attention  to  improved 
methods  in  farming. 

3.  Hold  a  special  agricultural  school  of  one  week.     In  this 

seek  the  help  of  the  state  agricultural  college  and  other 
agencies.     Probable  cost  $150. 

4.  Clean  up  the  town  common,  streets,  school  grounds,  ceme- 

teries and  other  public  grounds,  and  keep  them  clean. 
Probable  cost,  $200. 

FOR  THE  YEAR   1916 

5.  Organize  a  woman's  club. 

237 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 


6.  Build   a  mile  of  permanent  macadam   road  between   the 

railroad  station  and  the  village  center.  Probable  cost, 
$3,500. 

7.  Hold    another    agricultural    school    of    one    \veek    dealing 

with  some  local  specialty,  as  market  milk,  poultry  rais- 
ing or  onion  growing.  Probable  cost,  $150. 

FOR  THE  YEAR   1917 

8.  Build  another  mile  of  permanent  road.     Specify  the  loca- 

tion.    Probable  cost,  $4,000. 

9.  Organize  in  a  small  and  tentative  way  a  selling  associa- 

tion for  handling  the  chief  product  or  products  of  the 
town. 

10.  Through  co-operation  of  the  grange,  local  churches  and 

other  organizations,  secure  a  course  of  good  lectures 
and  entertainments.  Should  be  self-supporting. 

FOR  THE   YEAR    1918 

11.  Develop  a  tree-planting  campaign  for  the  benefit  of  street 

and  roadside  trees. 

12.  Acquire    a    playground.      Probable    cost,    $500.      Perhaps 

some  ambitious  citizen  will  accommodatingly  die  and 
leave  the  desired  land  to  the  town. 

13.  Build  a  new  schoolhouse  in  a  new  and  larger  lot.     Prob- 

able net  cost,  $7,500. 

14.  Celebrate  the   3OOth  anniversary  of   the  founding  of  the 

town  by  an  "old  home  week,"  accompanied  by  a  com- 
munity exhibit  in  which  all  forces  and  all  organizations 
in  the  community  will  endeavor  to  show  what  each  is 
doing  for  the  common  welfare. 

Such  a  program  should  be  extended  to 
cover  ten  to  twenty  years,  perhaps  more.  It 
should  be  given  the  largest  possible  public- 
ity. Copies  should  be  put  up  in  the  post- 
office,  posted  in  every  schoolhouse,  and  in 
every  church,  and  printed  in  the  local  paper. 


238 


1 MPROVEMENT   PROGRAMS 

It  should  have  the  widest  discussion  and  the 
most  searching  criticism.  Finally,  it  should 
be  adopted,  as  far  as  any  legislative  machin- 
ery can  adopt  it,  and  given  the  sanction  of 
general  acceptance,  the  presumption  being 
that  a  plan  so  constructed,  so  discussed  and 
so  approved  will  be  carried  out.  Of  course 
everyone  will  realize  that  changes  in  the 
program  will  be  inevitable,  but  they  need 
not  be  frequent  and  never  vital.  The  main 
issue  lies  in  the  co-operation  of  all  the  peo- 
ple and  all  the  forces  in  the  community  for 
the  constant  improvement  of  the  whole 
neighborhood,  and  this  great  purpose  will 
be  most  materially  assisted  by  keeping  be- 
fore the  community  such  a  thoroughly 
tested  improvement  program  as  we  have 
here  suggestively  outlined. 

MAINTENANCE 

Every  rational  plan  of  improvement  must 
take  account  of  maintenance.  The  first, 
last  and  ever  present  problem  is  that  of 
keeping  the  town  or  the  country  clean. 
Whether  or  not  cleanliness  is  next  to  godli- 

239 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

ness,  it  is  the  prime  requisite  of  civic  art.  It 
is  to  civic  improvement  just  what  house- 
keeping is  to  household  art.  Without  good, 
efficient,  ceaseless  housekeeping  the  home 
quickly  falls  into  disorder;  and  a  disorderly 
house  is  just  as  great  an  impossibility  as  a 
dirty  disorderly  town.  To  keep  a  town  or  a 
neighborhood  clean  and  in  good  order  re- 
quires just  the  same  constant,  laborious 
housewifely  care  that  is  necessary  in  keep- 
ing any  home  comfortable. 

This  sort  of  care,  in  housekeeping  or 
townkeeping,  requires  moral  qualities  of 
some  strength.  It  also  requires  a  large 
amount  of  hard  labor.  This  labor  is  ex- 
pensive; and  just  as  housekeeping  (when 
the  housekeeper  is  allowed  reasonable 
wages)  costs  more  than  house  furnishing,  so 
town  maintenance  costs  more  than  town  im- 
provements. Or  rather  let  us  say  it  ought 
to — for  this  principle  is  not  recognized  in 
most  places  and  the  scale  of  local  townkeep- 
ing is  not  up  to  the  common  standard  of 
housekeeping. 

A  few  professional  estimates  will  throw 

240 


IMPROVEMENT  PROGRAMS 

some  light  on  the  proper  cost  of  town  clean- 
ing. The  most  definitely  ascertained  cost 
pertains  to  the  care  of  commons  or  parks. 
The  average  cost  under  favorable  condi- 
tions throughout  the  United  States  is  $no 
an  acre  a  year.  The  proper  cost  for  village 
commons  may  be  put  at  from  $75  to  $100 


GOOD    WELL-KEPT    HOMES,    THE    GREATEST   CIVIC    ASSET 

an  acre  a  year.  Where  the  areas  are  much 
used  the  cost  will  rise.  It  may  be  easily 
reckoned,  therefore,  that  the  village  which 
has  a  four-acre  park  or  common  near  the 
center  of  population  where  it  receives  con- 
siderable use  and  should  be  kept  up  in  good 

241 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 


order,  should  appropriate  $300  to  $400  an- 
nually for  that  purpose.  The  customary 
allowance  is  less  than  one-fourth  of  that 
amount. 

The  cost  of  keeping  streets  clean  has  not 
been  so  often  computed,  but  it  may  be  safely 


>JT  \V         *  ...  Jtfi^M 


ifeT^: 


THE    PICTURESQUENESS    OF    NEGLECT 

said  that,  in  the  ordinary  town  or  village  of 
2,000  to  5,000  inhabitants  having  ten  to 
thirty  miles  of  street  in  constant  use,  the  cost 
of  keeping  them  clean  should  be  $10  to  $20 
a  mile  a  year.  This  is  entirely  aside  from 
physical  repairs. 

242 


IMPROVEMENT  PROGRAMS 

The  cost  of  Handling  ashes,  swill  and 
other  garbage  is  usually  taken  out  of  the 
private  citizens.  Each  householder  pays 
for  the  removal  of  his  own  waste.  It  would 
be  cheaper  for  all  and  fairer  to  the  poorer 
classes  if  most  towns  would  handle  the  gar- 
bage at  public  expense.  This  part  of  the 
municipal  housekeeping  should,  then,  cost 
40  to  70  cents  a  year  for  each  inhabitant 

The  maintenance  work  is  the  dullest  and 
most  difficult  part  of  civic  art,  as  it  is  the 
most  essential.  The  real  test  of  the  village 
improvement  society  comes  on  this  point. 
The  best  committee  of  the  best  men  and 
women  should  be  assigned  to  this  duty. 


243 


//  is  probably  true  that  the  first  and  most 
Important  step  in  bringing  about  a  federa- 
tion of  rural  social  forces  is  to  educate  all 
concerned  to  the  desirability  of  such  a  fed- 
eration— to  sow  the  seeds  of  the  idea.  So 
far  as  machinery  is  concerned  it  may  not  be 
necessary  to  form  any  new  organization. 
Indeed,  what  is  chiefly  necessary  is  a  sort  of 
clearing-house  for  an  exchange  of  ideas  and 
plans  among  all  who  are  at  work  on  any 
phase  of  the  rural  social  problem. 

KENYOX  L.  BUTTERFIELD, 
"Chapters  in  Rural  Progress." 


244 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ORGANIZATION    AND    MANAGE 
MENT 

THE  typical  agency  of  rural  betterment 
is  the  village  improvement  society.  In 
its  modern  form  this  seems  to  be  an  Ameri- 
can invention,  the  first  village  improvement 
society  having  been  organized  in  Stock- 
bridge,  Mass.,  in  1853.  The  form  of  organ- 
ization is  usually  very  simple,  with  few  ex- 
ecutive officers,  with  scant  legislative  ma- 
chinery and  a  general  lack  of  red  tape. 
There  are  usually  a  president,  a  secretary 
and  a  treasurer,  while  the  active  work  of  the 
society  is  usually  intrusted  to  committees,  as 
a  committee  on  roads  and  streets,  one  on 
parks  and  commons,  one  on  school  grounds, 
one  to  look  after  the  cemeteries,  and  other 
committees,  each  one  in  charge  of  one  of  the 
particular  improvement  enterprises  adopted 
by  the  society.  The  membership  is  always 
voluntary,  and  the  members  usually  pay  a 

245 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

small  annual  fee,  which  is  a  contribution  to 
the  work  in  hand.  In  a  few  instances  these 
village  improvement  societies  take  on  quali- 
ties of  greater  dignity  and  permanency. 
They  become  incorporated  and  acquire 
titles  to  property  and  hold  land  or  buildings 
as  trustees  for  the  public. 

While  the  village  improvement  society  is 
a  very  simple  and  informal  organization,  as 
a  rule — and  probably  better  so — its  place 
in  the  community  is  frequently  taken  by 
other  organizations  acting  in  still  more  in- 
direct and  informal  fashion.  Certainly  the 
commonest  substitute  of  this  kind  is  the 
woman's  club.  Also  it  is  one  of  the  best. 
In  hundreds  of  fortunate  towns  an  energetic 
woman's  club  has  laid  aside  the  studying  of 
Browning  and  Grecian  art  for  street  clean- 
ing, public  playgrounds  and  better  schools. 
Or  if  the  literary  studies  have  not  been 
finally  laid  aside,  they  have  been  splendidly 
supplemented  by  the  study  of  conditions 
nearer  home  and — what  is  even  more  im- 
portant— by  active  efforts  for  the  ameliora- 
tion of  those  conditions. 

246 


ORGANIZATION   AND   MANAGEMENT 

Sometimes  the  woman's  club  begins  by 
organizing  a  single  committee  on  village 
improvement,  or  by  managing  a  campaign 
for  the  preservation  of  some  historic  spot. 
But  once  begun  on  concrete  improvements 
the  club  usually  goes  rapidly  forward  to  the 
organization  of  other  committees  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  other  reforms.  It  may  be 
the  planting  of  street  trees,  the  laying  of 
sewers  or  the  closing  of  saloons,  for  the 
woman's  club  is  apt  to  be  the  first  group  of 
citizens  to  see  that  village  improvement  is 
all  of  one  piece,  and  that  sanitary  and  es- 
thetic reforms  must  go  hand  in  hand  with 
political  and  moral  reforms. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  advise  women's 
clubs  embarking  in  these  enterprises  to  call 
to  their  aid  the  men  of  the  community,  for 
the  cases  are  rare  in  which  they  have 
neglected  so  much  available  assistance.  The 
support  and  advice  of  the  men  citizens  is 
essential,  but  the  ladies — God  bless  them! — - 
frequently  supply  the  real  initiative  and 
bear  the  main  burdens  of  the  work. 

Other  local  groups  not  organized  prima- 

247 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

rily  for  village  improvement  work  some- 
times accept  similar  opportunities  when 
offered.  For  example,  practical  improve- 
ment work  has  been  taken  up  by  the  local 
grange.  Committees  have  been  appointed, 
money  raised  and  important  public  works 
directed.  The  grange  has  often  been  the 
agent  for  renovating  local  politics,  closing 
saloons,  toning  up  the  schools,  and  less  fre- 
quently for  improving  roads,  planting  trees, 
preserving  picnic  and  pleasure  grounds, 
etc. 

In  rarer  instances  a  local  church  has  taken 
the  lead.  In  one-church  towns  or  in  homo- 
geneous communities  the  way  is  easily  open 
for  the  church  to  assume  such  leadership— 
and  it  may  be  easily  believed  that  the  church 
would  be  immensely  strengthened  in  any 
community  where  it  would  show  itself  capa- 
ble of  practical  leadership  in  these  indis- 
pensable human  concerns. 

The  masculine  counterpart  of  the  wom- 
an's club  is  the  board  of  trade  or  the  cham- 
ber of  commerce.  Even  many  small  towns 
have  active  boards  of  trade,  and  such  socie- 

248 


ORGANIZATION   AND  MANAGEMENT 

ties  often  undertake  local  improvement 
work  with  vim  and  intelligence.  The 
methods  of  management  are  the  same  as  in 
other  associations  doing  similar  work.  Com- 
mittees are  organized  to  collect  funds  and 
to  direct  particular  enterprises.  Transpor- 
tation facilities  are  improved,  public  build- 
ings secured,  parks  and  boulevards  designed 
and  constructed  and  other  public  works  of 
all  sorts  put  through. 

In  general  it  may  be  accepted  as  a  sound 
rule  that,  where  some  existing  local  society, 
as  a  women's  club,  a  board  of  trade,  a  grange 
or  a  church,  can  undertake  the  direction  of 
village  improvement  work,  it  is  better  to 
place  it  in  such  hands  rather  than  to  organ- 
ize a  new  village  improvement  society  for 
the  purpose.  The  undue  multiplication  of 
societies  is  a  characteristic  weakness  of 
American  life.  Three  men  or  six  women 
cannot  meet  twice  anywhere  for  any  pur- 
pose without  proceeding  to  write  up  a  con- 
stitution and  by-laws  and  to  elect  one  an- 
other president,  secretary  and  treasurer. 
Much  effort  is  spent  in  organization  which 

249 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

might  better  go  to  the  actual  work  in  view. 
Where  some  further  organization  seems 
desirable  for  the  promotion  of  local  im- 
provements, it  is  often  best  to  form  a  feder- 
ation of  existing  societies.  I  recently  as- 
sisted at  the  organization  of  such  a  federa- 
tion, which  was  brought  about  by  associat- 
ing two  delegates  elected  by  each  of  the 
existing  local  organizations.  Among  the 
societies  represented  were  the  church,  the 
Sunday  School,  the  young  people's  society, 
the  grange,  and  the  ancient  order  of  United 
Workmen.  It  is  in  the  highest  degree  val- 
uable, whenever  it  can  be  done,  thus  to  en- 
list the  entire  community,  in  all  its  groups, 
in  the  work  of  village  improvement.  More 
work  is  accomplished  with  less  friction,  be- 
cause all  the  people  work  together;  and  the 
social  effects  of  such  sympathetic  co-opera- 
tion are  often  quite  as  valuable  and  far- 
reaching  as  the  physical  effects  seen  in  clean 
streets  and  new  libraries.  We  may  confi- 
dently recommend  the  local  federation  as 
the  very  best  type  of  improvement  organiza- 
tion; and  if  such  a  federation  requires  a 

250 


ORGANIZATION  AND  MANAGEMENT 

larger  field  for  its  activities  than  that  occu- 
pied for  the  village  improvement  society, 
why  so  much  the  better.  By  all  means  let 
literary  entertainment,  political  reform,  and 
religious  awakening  be  combined  with  the 
campaign  for  a  clean  and  orderly  town  and 
country. 

All  these  things  naturally  belong  together. 
They  are  fundamentally  related  and  no  one 
of  them  can  progress  very  far  without  the 
support  of  the  others. 

Another  general  principle  may  be  easily 
brought  to  light  for  the  guidance  of  im- 
provement work,  namely  that  the  organiza- 
tion which  directs  it  should  be  a  permanent 
organization.  Too  often  the  citizens  see 
only  one  or  two  detached  problems,  and 
complacently  imagine  that  when  these  are 
solved  the  work  will  be  over.  When  the 
new  railroad  station  is  built  or  the  new  park 
dedicated,  they  think  there  will  be  nothing 
further  to  do.  Yet  the  most  important  ele- 
ment in  community  improvement  is  its  con- 
tinuity. Nothing  worth  while  can  be 
brought  to  pass  in  a  day.  It  requires  years 

251 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

of  sustained  effort  to  do  things  on  a  neigh- 
borhood scale.  The  bedrock  idea  of  civic 
improvement  is  to  foresee  the  needs  of  the 
community  for  a  long  period  in  the  future 
and  to  make  wise  provision  for  those  needs. 
The  very  name  we  use  signifies  that  we  have 
a  continuing  work,  for  improvement  is 
possible  forever.  Village  improvement  is 
better  than  social  reform  because  improve- 
ment has  no  end,  while  reforms  are  soon 
over. 


At  this  point  it  is  highly  important  to 
urge  the  need  of  expert  assistance  in  village 
improvement  and  all  affairs  of  similar  char- 
acter. It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule,  sub- 
ject only  to  the  rarest  exceptions,  that  the 
improvements  in  any  town  or  neighborhood 
should  be  carried  forward  in  accordance 
with  some  well-settled  plan,  and  that  this 
plan  should  be  the  work  of  an  expert.  City 
planning  is  now  recognized  as  a  profession 
in  itself,  a  branch  of  landscape  architecture. 
The  public  is  coming  to  recognize  also  that 


WILD    RAMBLE    IN    THE    NATIVE    WOODS— BETTER    THAN    A 
MANUFACTURED  PARK 


ORGANIZATION  AND  MANAGEMENT 

the  planning  of  small  cities,  of  villages  and 
of  rural  communities,  is  just  as  much  a  mat- 
ter of  professional  experience,  as  it  is 
equally  a  matter  of  public  importance. 
Each  community,  therefore,  at  the  very 
moment  when  it  first  becomes  aroused  to  the 
need  of  its  own  betterment,  should  consult 
some  expert  in  such  matters.  Usually  the 
first  and  best  expert  to  be  called  is  the  land- 
scape architect  with  experience  in  civic 
planning.  He  should  study  the  neighbor- 
hood, its  topography,  its  industries,  its  his- 
tory and  its  people  carefully,  and  in  view  of 
all  conditions  should  prepare  a  comprehen- 
sive plan  for  the  district.  This  plan 
should  be  given  the  greatest  possible  public- 
ity in  the  neighborhood  affected.  Every 
man,  woman  and  child  ought  to  see,  study 
and  understand  the  plan.  Every  detail 
ought  to  have  the  utmost  discussion,  exam- 
ination, friendly  criticism.  If  the  civic 
planner  is  a  fit  sort  of  man,  he  will  be  able 
to  profit  by  the  views  of  the  citizens,  he  will 
gain  valuable  suggestions  from  them,  and 
these  he  will  freely  incorporate  into  his  de- 

253 


RURAL  IMPROVEMENT 

sign.  After  such  a  design  has  undergone 
such  discussion  and  improvement,  and  after 
disputed  matters  have  been  settled  by  neigh- 
borhood vote  if  necessary,  the  whole  scheme 
ought  to  be  adopted  and  generally  ratified 
as  the  plan  of  the  town,  village,  neighbor- 
hood or  city;  and  thereafter  the  community 
should  give  itself  unanimously  and  in  good 
faith  to  carrying  out  the  adopted  plan. 

Based  on  such  a  plan,  there  should  be 
adopted  a  set  program  of  improvements. 
The  library  is  to  be  secured  this  year,  the 
new  high  school  two  years  hence,  the  new 
park  in  four  years,  a  regular  tree  warden 
and  park  manager  in  five  years,  and  so  on. 
The  community,  knowing  when  these 
changes  are  due  and  what  each  one  is  ex- 
pected to  cost,  will  find  the  problems  more 
than  half  solved.  It  is  well  known  every- 
where that  the  accomplishment  of  such  im- 
provements waits  chiefly  for  the  clearing  up 
of  the  public  mind. 

Other  experts  beside  the  landscape  archi- 
tect may  often  he  consulted  to  advantage. 
As  a  rule,  all  communities,  and  especially 

254 


ORGANIZATION  AND  MANAGEMENT 

small  villages  and  country  neighborhoods, 
suffer  for  want  of  such  expert  help.  A 
transportation  expert  can  help  in  solving 
railroad  and  trolley  troubles.  A  sanitary 
engineer  can  help  plan  a  sewer  system. 
Should  the  schools  appear  to  be  giving  un- 
satisfactory results,  it  will  be  best  to  secure 
the  unprejudiced  opinion  of  some  expert 
educator  from  quite  outside  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  disregard  of  expert  advice  is 
widely  known  as  a  peculiar  and  persistent 
sin  in  our  democratic  form  of  government, 
and  one  of  the  soundest  of  civic  improve- 
ments lies  in  the  overcoming  of  this  very  sin. 

FINANCIAL  RESOURCES 

Local  improvement  societies  generally 
raise  money  in  small  amounts  by  various 
methods  to  carry  out  the  schemes  which 
they  deem  most  valuable  to  their  communi- 
ties. The  annual  membership  fee  is  some- 
times the  whole  source  of  revenue.  Occa- 
sionally some  rich  resident  of  the  place  or 
some  well-to-do  corporation  will  be  com- 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

mitted  to  an  annual  gift  of  a  considerable 
amount  for  improvement  purposes.  Often 
a  subscription  paper  is  circulated  and  citi- 
zens are  invited  to  contribute.  When  the 
work  is  promoted  by  a  woman's  club  or 
church,  or  grange,  it  is  rather  the  usual  pro- 
cedure to  supplement  such  sources  of  in- 
come by  fairs,  dances  and  other  more  or  less 
direct  means  of  assessing  public  tribute.  All 
these  methods  are  legitimate  enough;  but 
they  are  seldom  adequate  and  are  morally 
unsound.  The  only  honest  way  is  for  the 
community  to  pay  for  its  own  improve- 
ments. Public  works  should  be  carried  out 
at  public  charge  and  under  the  authority  of 
public  vote  and  subject  to  public  inspection. 
The  improvement  society  should  supply 
only  the  initiative,  should  see  that  farsighted 
plans  are  made,  that  experts  are  placed  in 
charge  of  works  requiring  professional  ad- 
vice, should  bring  a  well-informed  public 
opinion  and  a  sound  moral  and  esthetic 
sense  to  bear  on  all  public  questions,  but 
should  not,  in  general,  attempt  to  pay  the 
bills. 

256 


ORGANIZATION  AND   MANAGEMENT 

Certainly  it  seems  mean  and  vicious  for 
a  town  to  require  its  women  to  beg  from 
house  to  house  to  pay  for  clean  streets.  The 
original  building  of  the  streets  is  every- 
where recognized  as  a  public  charge.  Civic 
improvement  consists  largely  in  making 
the  community  realize  that  they  are  respon- 
sible for  parks,  playgrounds,  street  trees 
and  street  cleaning,  as  they  are  for  road 
building,  street  lighting  and  police  protec- 
tion. 

At  this  point  it  is  well  to  recognize  the 
important  fact  that  a  large  proportion  of 
the  customary  expenditures  from  public 
funds  goes  to  projects  which  properly  come 
within  the  interest  of  any  village  or  rural 
improvement  society.  The  appropriations 
for  streets,  sewers,  lights  and  water  supply 
are  indubitably  of  this  order,  and  it  is  just 
as  important,  therefore,  for  a  public  im- 
provement society  to  see  that  reasonable 
public  appropriations  for  streets  are  made 
and  wisely  expended  as  to  raise  money  from 
private  sources  to  be  spent  in  street  improve- 
ments. In  other  words,  the  first  business  of 

2.57 


RURAL   IMPROVEMENT 

an  improvement  organization  is  not  to  raise 
money  on  its  own  account,  but  to  see  that  the 
fund  raised  by  taxation  is  honestly  and 
effectively  used.  The  entire  business  of  the 
village,  the  town  or  the  county  should  be, 
in  a  large  and  important  sense,  a  work  of 
public  improvement. 

The  work  of  an  improvement  society  in 
this  matter  will  be  in  seeing  that  suitable 
and  relatively  large  appropriations  are  made 
for  works  of  permanent  improvement.  Too 
frequently  the  stingy  feeling  prevails  and 
the  community  spends  money  only  for  these 
things  which  cannot  be  foregone — for  police 
to  look  after  the  drunks  and  for  a  poorhouse 
for  the  wrecks,  but  never  a  cent  for  the  boys 
and  the  girls  and  the  sane  and  the  sober, 
never  a  cent  for  anything  which  makes  the 
town  clean  and  beautiful  and  pride-worthy, 
never  a  cent  for  anything  that  lasts. 

Any  corporate  community  may  properly 
borrow  money  to  carry  out  permanent  im- 
provements. Indeed,  the  only  correct  test 
of  a  proposed  municipal  loan  is  whether  the 
money  is  to  be  spent  for  the  enrichment  of 

258 


ORGANIZATION   AND   MANAGEMENT 

the  future  or  for  current  expenses.  Running 
expenses  can  be  met  honestly  only  from  cur- 
rent taxes ;  but  permanent  works,  the  bene- 
fits of  which  are  to  be  shared  by  coming 
generations,  may  rightfully  be  charged  in 
part  to  those  future  taxpayers.  The  pur- 
chase and  equipment  of  parks  and  public 
reservations  constitute  the  very  best  possi- 
ble form  of  community  investment,  and 
offer  the  best  possible  occasion  for  the  issue 
of  bonds.  Such  bonds  should  usually  be 
drawn  to  run  25  or  30  years,  and  in  every 
case  a  sinking  fund  for  their  retirement 
should  begin  to  accumulate  on  the  day  of 
their  issue.  Or  the  bonds  may  be  issued  in 
serial  form,  in  which  case  those  maturing 
first  should  fall  due  within  ten  years  at  lat- 
est. While  posterity  may  be  asked  to  pay 
its  due  proportion  of  such  charges,  posterity 
should  not  be  asked  to  pay  it  all.  In  any 
case  of  doubt  the  present  generation  should 
pay  more  than  its  exact  share,  thus  con- 
tributing something  to  posterity. 


259 


INDEX 

PAGE 

Advertising  nuisance 220 

Agricultural  improvement ;: 228 

Ailanthus  tree __. 73 

American  methods 122 

Anderson,  W.  L.,  quoted i 

Andre,  Ed.,  quoted 135 

Arbor  day 60 

Architecture    181 

Art  in  America 2 

Ash  trees 7° 

Bailey,  L.  H.,  quoted 31 

Basswood  tree 69 

Black  locust 72 

Board  of  trade 248 

Bridges   200 

Bungalow 184 

Burnt  clay  roads 47 

Butterfield,  Kenyon  L.,  quoted 244 

California  trees 79 

Canadian  farm  layout 138 

Cemeteries ill,  214 

Central  states'  trees 76 

Checkerboard   road  system 36 

Church  work 248 

Civic  art 4 

Civic  centers    83 

Collections  of  plants 127 

Colonial  country  house  type 183 

Community  improvement  societies 9 

Community  planning 160 

26l 


INDEX 

PAGE 

Co-ordination  of  community  improvement 16 

Country  Life  Commission,  quoted S4 

County  supervision  of  roads 52 

Davy,  D.  A.  Burt,  quoted 79 

Definitions  and  principles 2 

Earle,  Mrs.  Alice  Morse,  quoted ng 

Earth    roads 45 

Economical   foundation    227 

Eliot,   Chas.,   quoted 223 

Elm  tree 66 

Entrances  and  approaches 19 

Expert  assistance 253 

Farm   architecture 181 

Farm  buildings  and  arrangement 145 

Farm  buildings  and  location 142 

Farm  center 142 

Farm  deeds  and  surveys 141 

Farm  hauling,  cost  of 34 

Farm  industries 230 

Farm  planning 137 

Farm  power 194 

Farm  subdivision 144 

Farmhouse,  model 185 

Farmhouse   types   182 

Federation  of  societies 250 

Financial  resources 255 

Front  yard  vs.  back  yard , 122 

Garden  styles 129 

Grange  hall 92 

Grange  work 248 

Gravel   roads 46 

Gridiron   street   system 162 

Gulf  states'  trees 76 

Hackberry 73 

Hardy  plants 131 

262 


INDEX 

PAGE 

Hartlib,  Samuel,  quoted 136 

Heating  systems 191 

Home  garden I2O 

Honey  locust ; 73 

Horse  chestnut 70 

Improvement  of  existing  towns 175 

Improvement  plan 236 

Improvement  problems 5 

Improvement  program 237 

Improvement  programs 224 

Incidental  problems 205 

Leadership    224 

Lewis,  Prof.  C.  I.,  quoted 78 

Lighting  systems 190 

Litchfield,   Connecticut,  common 84 

Local   parks   106 

Macadam  roads 49 

Main  roads 38 

Maintenance 132,  239 

Maple  tree 67 

Means   of    access 19 

Mielke,  Robert,  quoted 57,  180 

Modern  conveniences  in  farmhouses 189 

Muir,  John,  quoted 102 

National  parks 103 

National  roads 53 

Native  plants I31 

Natural  vs.  formal  styles 129 

New  England  farm  buildings 146 

New  England  trees 75 

Nolen,  John,  quoted 159 

Nuisances    219 

Oak  trees _ 71 

Oiling  the   roads 48 

Organization    and    management 245 

263 


INDEX 

PAGE 

Ornamental  treatment  of  farm  grounds 149 

Parkinson,  John,  quoted 118 

Park  treatment  of  farm  grounds 151 

Planning   home   gardens 122 

Planting  home  gardens 130 

Playgrounds 115,  21 1 

Pole  and  wire  nuisance,  The 220 

Poplar  trees 72 

Postoffice  location    86 

Prairie  states'  trees 75 

Principles  of  road  location 38 

Programs  of  improvement 224 

Public  buildings 196 

Public   centers   87 

Public  grounds 103 

Public  monuments  and  memorials 200 

Public  roads  in  the  United  States 32 

Quadrangular  building  arrangement 147 

Radiating   road   system 41 

Railroad  stations 21 

Relocation  of  roads 43 

Rest  rooms 217 

Road  and  street  planning 36 

Road  construction   44 

Road  management 51 

Road  taxes 50 

Roads   and   streets 32 

Roadside  trees 58 

Robinson,  Chas.  M.,  quoted I 

Rocky   Mountain  states'   trees 75 

Roman  farm  layout 138 

Rural  architecture 181 

Rural  community  center 99 

Scenic  roadways 109 

School  gardens  212 

264 


INDEX 

PAGE 

School  grounds 109,  205 

Sewage  disposal 193 

Simplicity 126 

Sitte,  Camillo,  quoted 18 

Social  improvement 231 

Social   survey    232 

State   improvement   campaigns II 

State  parks 105 

State-wide  improvement  work 10 

Stone-clay  roads 47 

Stone   roads   49 

Street    intersections    168 

Survey 225,  235 

Sycamore    tree   69 

Temporary  decorations 202 

Time   element    14 

Town   common    94 

Town  commons 113 

Trees,  best  varieties  of 66 

Trees,  care  of 62 

Trees  for  special  locations 74 

Trees  for  street  planting 58 

Tree  wardens 63 

Trolley  stations 26,  215 

Ventilation   189 

Village  architecture 195 

Village  church 88 

Village  home   195 

Village  home  garden 120 

Village  improvement  society 245 

Village    improvement   societies 9 

Waring,  George  E.,  Jr.,  quoted 204 

Willis,  K.  P.,  quoted 82 

Women's   clubs    246 

Zueblin,  Chas.,  quoted I 

265 


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